'WHAT JUST HAPPENED?' Residents woken up by RAF jets making 'urgent' diversion

Residents said they were woken up by RAF fighter jets forced to make an 'urgent' diversion in the early hours of this morning.
Stock image of a Eurofighter TyphoonStock image of a Eurofighter Typhoon
Stock image of a Eurofighter Typhoon

The fighters, reportedly two Typhoons, are thought to have been caught out by bad weather and needed to stop at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport to refuel at around 1.30am.

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Aviation expert Peter Harley said on Twitter: "The Typhoons were on routine ops when weather came in bad, attempted to divert to another base but both ultimately had to declare fuel emergencies and land at Liverpool."

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It is believed the jets, which are assembled at BAE in Warton, are usually based at RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, north-east Scotland. Radar software showed them flying at around 300mph.

One Poulton resident said it sounded like a jet had flown over with its engines 'full blast', with the airport later confirming the jets had 'diverted in for urgent fuelling'.

The Ministry of Defence has been contacted for more information.

In a statement to Forces.net, an RAF spokesman said: "We can confirm that two Typhoons conducted a practise diversion landing at Liverpool John Lennon Airport last night.

"The aircraft were on a routine night flying training sortie and recovered directly to RAF Lossiemouth after refuelling.”