Many residents in London and the northern Home Counties were awoken in the early hours of this morning by a 'loud bang', which turned out to be a sonic boom.
The noise was accompanied by reports of people feeling their houses and beds 'shake', with some locals also taking to social media to share home security footage that appeared to capture the sound.
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London's Metropolitan Police soon confirmed the loud bang had been the results of an RAF planes' sonic boom, adding that there was 'no cause for concern'.
According to the BBC, the noise was generated by two Royal Air Force Typhoons, which had been launched from Coningsby in Lincolnshire and intercepted an unresponsive aircraft.
The RAF website has a detailed run-down of what happens with a 'quick reaction alert', explaining that information is collated from radar sites across the UK and from civilian air traffic and intelligence agencies, before the decision is made whether the threat is sufficient to scramble Typhoon jets.
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A statement from the Ministry of Defence said: "Typhoons from @RAFConingsby were scrambled this morning, as part of the UK's Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) procedures, after an aircraft lost communications in UK airspace.
"The aircraft was intercepted and communications re-established. The Typhoons have now returned."
The sonic boom was heard across areas of London, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
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One Hertfordshire resident, Janet, told the BBC she had heard a 'huge thud' and felt her house shake at 4.17am, prompting her to wonder if her boiler had blown up or a tree had fallen onto her property.
She said: "I got up, looked around and out of the window, things looked fine.
"I went downstairs, went from room to room looking for cracks in the walls and ceilings."
Another concerned Brit tweeted: "My sister and I were convinced that someone had tried to break into the house. Searched the whole house, including the attic. We locked ourselves in her room until the morning."
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Others, meanwhile, found the whole thing a lot less worrying, but felt frustrated that it only highlighted their noisy nighttime habits.
One bloke wrote on Twitter: "Funny how the RAF jets sonic boom from travelling faster than the speed of sound over the Home Counties didn't wake the missus yet when it comes to my snoring, whole different ball game."
Another added, slightly more proudly: "What sonic boom? There is nothing louder than my snoring... north London wakes up at 04:15 and I'm sleeping like a baby..."
Featured Image Credit: PA
