Circling helicopters - what are they doing?

[PixelNomad]

There is a helicopter circling above our neighbourhood. It got me thinking - what is it they are doing? In the past I always thought 'there are looking for a criminal' but are they?
Any knowledgeable mumsnetters who know what helicopters circling overhead are up to?

In the middle of the night, they are usually looking for dodgy types on the run or following stolen vehicles. During the day, usually a missing person, maybe lost kids, a person with dementia who's gone walkabout, or someone with mental health issues who needs to be found urgently, or an air ambulance looking for somewhere to land. I generally look at our local FB page and there's usually somebody who knows what it's for.

They are on their lunch break.

They put the stick so the helicopter goes round and round while they eat their lunch.

They have to make sure the circles are not too tight otherwise they throw up.

Maybe someone's blown your cover OP.

We sometimes have them checking the railway lines, maybe they're checking for any debris from yesterday's storm.

Ask on FB, that’s what everyone else does here.

‘WHY is the helicopter circling again! It’s woke up my dog, FFS!’

Practising for the Farage dystopia where they monitor anyone who does not look British enough.

The yellow ones are normally national grid.
Red is air ambulance.
White and blue is police.
Sometimes we get the coast guard because they have the heat sensor so when the are searching for missing persons. We're also on a bit of a flightpath so get lots just passing.

Where I am the coastguard helicopter searches often and I'm also near RNAS Culdrose so in the evenings the helicopters are up on exercise or training. We very rarely get a police helicopter circling though.

Rich people showing off their new toy to their friends.
Air ambulance.
Military
Police.

We also get more than normal during the Glastonbury festival (we're about 20 miles from the site) as they fly north.

Blimey, you lot live sheltered lives. Everywhere I've lived it's always been police looking for criminals. And usually up there so damned often as to not being worth commenting on or thinking about. In one flat I had it was pretty much guaranteed to wreck my sleep every Friday and Saturday night.

@Ramblingaway yes a helicopter flying around is so bloody common that on my local Facebook groups people only post now if no one's seen "The Helicopter" for a while 😂

Where I live it's the Royals coming home or going out 😂

We get the yellow electricity one about once a year, they spend a good long time circling around looking at wires (I presume)

Thanks to all who suggested looking up on flight radar, just heard a helicopter overhead and it’s the Coastguard