An RAF jet has been spotted circling over parts of the North East after taking part in a four-hour training exercise. 

Those who were looking over Teesside on Wednesday (August 30) afternoon might have spotted the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III flying over near their homes. 

After taking to the skies, several people started sharing images of the impressive planes on social media, including photographer Simon McCabe, who posted two images of the Globemaster. 

Read more: All the incredibly RAF aircraft spotted over Darlington and Teesside

For those worrying about why RAF planes were over the area, there is a simple explanation - they were on a military training exercise. 

Starting their flight from Brize Norton at 11.25am, near Oxford, the plane looped towards Northampton, Peterborough, and Scunthorpe, before going towards York, and, finally, across towards Teesside. 

The Northern Echo: A globemaster III aircraftA globemaster III aircraft (Image: SIMON MCCABE)

Data on Flight Radar showed that the plane looped around the region twice, before heading back along the same route and landing at Brize Norton at about 3.20pm.

This was one of six flights from an RAF Globemaster that took off from Brize Norton on Wednesday, according to Flight Radar. 

Despite people's shock of seeing the plane, it's one of several sights of the planes this year. 

The Northern Echo: The plane over Teesside The plane over Teesside (Image: SIMON MCCABE)

In March 2023, an RAF Atlas took a short trip over Darlington, Middleton St George and Middlesbrough this afternoon.

According to FlightRadar at the time, the huge airbus travelled much of the country after taking off from RAF Brize Norton.

Making its way up from the south the aircraft then circled Middlesbrough and Stockton before passing over Darlington as well.