A sonic boom has been reported across parts of the East and South East of England.

The loud bang was heard in Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Kent and parts of London at about 11:40 BST.

The RAF confirmed three Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Typhoon fighter aircraft from RAF Coningsby were launched to escort a civilian plane that had lost contact with air traffic control.

A spokesperson said: “Communications were re-established and the aircraft was safely escorted to Stansted. The Typhoons are returning to base.”

An Essex Police spokesperson said: “A flight has been escorted into Stansted Airport after it lost contact with the ground.

“Contact was re-established with the plane, which had been travelling from Nice, and was escorted into the airport by RAF aircraft.

“On the ground, our officers determined there was nothing of concern.”

A sonic boom occurs when an aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound, generating shockwaves that rapidly compress and decompress the air, producing an explosive noise.

While the speed of sound varies depending on the altitude, it is about 660mph (1,060km/h) at 60,000ft (18,300m).

The sound, often described as an explosion or thunderclap, can be heard over a large area because it moves with the plane, similar to the wake of a boat spreading out behind a vessel.

The boom has been widely reported across social media.

One person in Chelmsford in Essex said: “It made the whole of the upper part of the house shake.”

A woman in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk said it “rattled” her back door, while in north Kent one person described how it “shook the whole house – we thought there had been an explosion”.

In Burwell, Cambridgeshire, another woman wrote: “Thought something blew up in my loft”.

Conor Kehoe, 33, was watching television with his fiancee Manisha Dev, 32, in Braintree when they heard “a very loud bang that shook the room”.

He told the BBC he initially thought his brother had fallen in the shower but then they realised it was coming from outside.

“So, we went outside and my neighbours were coming out as well, wondering what it was,” he said.

“I could hear the jet itself and thought jets can’t do a sonic boom unless it’s overland – and unless it’s absolutely necessary.

“It just sounded something like a bowling ball landing in a bath – like a thunderous clap but very echoey.”

Ms Dev, who was visiting from Singapore, said: “I was really shocked because, I mean, I’ve never experienced that in Singapore, so I thought it was like… a bomb.”

Additional reporting by James Kelly – BBC Verify