RAF fighter jets were scrambled to intercept Russian bombers near UK airspace.

Two Typhoons were dispatched from RAF Lossiemouth at about 9.30am on Monday, followed by a Voyager refuelling tanker from Brize Norton.

Two Russian TU-160 Blackjack bombers are understood to have flown within 35 miles of UK airspace.

An RAF spokesman said: "We can confirm that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA)Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth scrambled to monitor two Blackjack bombers approaching the UK area of interest.

"The Russian aircraft were initially monitored by a variety of friendly nation fighters and subsequently intercepted by the RAF in the North Sea.

"At no point did the Russian aircraft enter sovereign UK airspace."

RAF quick reaction jets based at Lossiemouth regularly intercept Russian planes. There were nearly 100 such incidents between 2005 and 2015.

The fly-pasts are usually carried out to test UK response times, it is understood.