After an “unseasonably” wet start to August, Britons are looking forward to a spell of hot weather as the sunshine re-emerges but sea swimmers have been warned the danger posed by sewage outflows remains.
A month’s worth of rain fell in less than a day on Saturday after Storm Antoni resulted in downpours across the UK. Large swathes of the country were issued with yellow and amber weather warnings and torrential rain flooded parts of Whitby, North Yorkshire.
The coming week is expected to be much improved, with forecasters expecting heat of 28C in parts of the UK, which will inevitably see an influx of holidaymakers to Britain’s beaches.
But as the August summer sun finally arrives, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) has warned the public about areas where they should avoid entering the water.
On Sunday morning alone, at least 57 triathletes fell ill with diarrhoea and vomiting after taking part in swimming competitions off the Wearside coast, health officials have said. Environment Agency sampling at the beach in late July detected 39 times the amount of E. coli found in the water during typical readings.
Surfers Against Sewage monitors water quality at over 450 river and coastal locations. The map below shows the most recent update for alerts on Sunday 6 August, and you can see an interactive version on their website.
On Sunday, the map showed approximately 50 red crosses which represent sewage pollution alerts.
There were also approximately 30 red exclamation marks which represent alerts for pollution risk forecasts or incidents.
As of Monday, the map shows approximately 30 red crosses which represent sewage pollution alerts.
According to the regulator Ofwat, sewage spills come from storm overflows in emergency situations; for example, if there are sewer blockages or equipment failures at wastewater treatment works. This means the network discharges a mixture of rainwater, groundwater and sewage.
It comes as around a quarter of UK sea swimmers are being put off the pastime because of the levels of sewage, according to a new poll.
Just over 30 per cent of UK adults said they go sea swimming during the summer and, of these, 23 per cent said they will not do so this year because of sewage dumping by water companies.
The Liberal Democrats said many UK beachgoers are now less likely to visit the coast after reading news about sewage— (PA Wire)
The poll of 2,272 UK adults between 21 and 23 July 21, carried out by Savanta, found that 43 per cent of regular beachgoers said they were less likely to visit the British seaside this summer because of the sewage discharges.
Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Tim Farron said: “Sewage dumping by water companies is ruining the British beach holiday.
“Coastal communities are at the mercy of water companies who unapologetically discharge raw sewage into popular swimming spots.”
