Here's why a plane has been flying in circuits over Portsmouth, Gosport and the Solent

Residents caught sight of the aircraft soaring through the air on Monday morning and throughout the day, as well as on Tuesday.

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Footage captured it travelling over the city through the cloudy conditions.

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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed it was an RAF craft used by 206 Squadron, RAF Brize Norton.

It flew over the area for roughly two hours – undertaking a trials flight. A spokesman said: ‘A RAF Atlas A400 callsign Comet 458 aircraft operated by 206 Squadron, RAF Brize Norton, was conducting a trials flight over the south coast yesterday.’

The RAF would not elaborate on what was being tested.

The RAF’s 206 Squadron is a ‘test and evaluation’ squadron, and the Atlas is a tactical airlift and transportation plane that can carry 116 troops, vehicles and even helicopters.

It is not the first time a mystery aircraft was spotted in the skies. Planespotters caught sight of a white Cessna with blue stripes taking off from Solent Aiport and circling over Gosport and Portsmouth.

The Cessna was being used as part of an MoD experiment to test ‘Wide Area Motion Imagery’ – conducting surveying flights.