Sonic Boom: People in north London woken by 'loud noise'

The sonic boom was created by RAF jets.

The Royal Air Force confirmed the matter and said in a statement: "Two of our Typhoons scrambled for Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) early this morning after an aircraft lost comms with UK airspace. The aircraft was intercepted and comms re-established. Our jets went supersonic to reach the aircraft quickly #sonicboom."

London's Metropolitan Police warned people that there were no cause of concern.

"The loud bang heard throughout north London and surrounding areas was the result of a sonic boom from RAF planes. There is no cause for concern," police said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, several netizens said they woke up in the morning by hearing a loud sound of 'explosion'.

Actor Logan Dean tweeted: "Anyone else hear a loud bang and feel the shockwave 4:20am? Heard a loud plane noise soon after maybe just a sonic boom. Chingford #loudbanglondon."

A Twitter user Kiran Topan said: " #explosion heard this sound in North West London."

What is a Sonic Boom:

A sonic boom is the sound associated with the shock waves created whenever an object travelling through the air travels faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to the human ear.

The crack of a supersonic bullet passing overhead or the crack of a bullwhip are examples of a sonic boom in miniature.