Why was a white balloon flying across the UK?

A mysterious white balloon that was seen flying through the skies attracted the attention of hundreds of onlookers. But who was steering the carrier and why was it slowly making its way across the UK?

The hydrogen-filled balloon departed Burgkirchen an der Alz, in Germany, on Monday evening. On board for the next 44 hours were adventure seekers Kolja Packard and Wuzi Wagner.

Their journey was one of the most watched on the flight tracking website Flightradar24 after the balloon entered the UK airspace off the coast of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, at about 17:00 GMT on Tuesday.

The pair eventually landed near Edinburgh on Wednesday afternoon after travelling through Cambridgeshire.

"The basic plan was to take off from Burgkirchen in Germany and then, first of all, reach England, and the final plan was to go up north as far as possible," said Mr Wagner, a 42-year-old aircraft engineer and skydiving instructor living in the Czech Republic.

He said travelling to Scotland had been a long-term ambition, adding the pair were looking forward to a day of sightseeing before returning to mainland Europe by ferry.

The balloon travelled through France and Belgium before reaching the UK.

After arriving in British airspace, it passed through Essex, Cambridgeshire, the East Midlands and Yorkshire. By Wednesday morning it was nearing County Durham, eventually landing near the National Museum of Flight, close to the Scottish capital.

Mr Packard, 51, said he and his flying partner had packed bread, cheese, cereal bars, and water to keep them going during their two-day expedition.

The sailing school owner hopes to beat his own world record, set after flying for more than 100 hours last year, when the pair take part in a race against other balloon pilots later this year.

BBC Essex presenter Ben Fryer captured the gas balloon on camera while walking his dog in Great Bentley, Essex. He joked: "Stick some red spots on that and it would look like Toad from Mario Kart, wouldn't it?

"Is it some kind of weather-related atmospheric thing? Or is it something more sinister?"

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