Shock as sonic boom heard across parts of England today

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Baffled social media users have reported hearing a ‘very loud boom’ that felt like a ‘big explosion’ which has been heard for miles around this afternoon (March 4).

Believed to have been caused by a military jet, emergency services have confirmed it’s nothing ‘to be concerned about’. Shocked people across the Leicestershire area and beyond heard the huge noise shortly after midday today.

Leicestershire Fire control confirmed they heard the boom in Leicester but that fire stations in Market Harborough and Melton had also felt it, suggesting it was a plane rather than an explosion. READ MORE: Home Bargains shoppers obsessed with ‘gorgeous’ vase that’s £20 cheaper than H&M One person took to Twitter to report: "According to my plane spotter son, the sonic boom was caused by a fighter jet scrambling to assist a plane that had squawked an emergency." When contacted by LeicestershireLive, a spokeswoman for fire control said: "I know what you're going to ask!

We felt it here at Meridian. "We thought it was a large lorry going past at first. It was also felt in Melton and at Market Harborough, so that wouldn't suggest it was anything happening on the ground to be concerned about." She said that a plane breaking the sound barrier was the most likely cause.