A major rescue mission has been launched after ‘a number of people’ have been reported as being in difficulty in the sea off Withernsea.
Emergency crews were called to the area off the East Yorkshire coast just after 3pm on Friday afternoon.
It comes just one day after people were not allowed to enter the sea for the annual New Year’s Day swim event due to large breaking waves.
Meanwhile, a man in his 50s died after getting into difficulty at Brighton beach yesterday.
HM Coastguard, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Humberside Police, and Humberside Fire and Rescue have all scrambled crews to try and rescue those in trouble this afternoon.
A rescue helicopter, air ambulance and another aircraft have also been deployed, and Withernsea’s RNLI inshore lifeboat alongside an all-weather lifeboat from Bridlington and Hornsea Inshore Rescue are in attendance.
A large cordon has been put in place along the seafront in a major rescue mission involving more than 100 members of the emergency services.
Yorkshire Ambulance Service initially said four people had entered the water. But by 7.15pm on Friday, HM Coastguard said it was searching for two people, having previously said it was reporting to ‘a number of people in difficulty in the water’.
The incident comes amid a yellow weather warning for snow and ice on the Yorkshire coast.
Snow showers are expected overnight, with the Met Office reporting a likelihood of around one to three cm of snow, with up to eight cm possible in places.
It’s due to an Arctic chill, with the Met Office expecting daytime temperatures across the UK to struggle to breach 0C (32F) and could even fall into the minus double digits over the coming days.
Emergency crews are at the scene in Withernsea
Emergency service responders included police and HM Coastguard
A line of blue lights flash along the seafront as the rescue operation continues
The HM Coastguard helicopter hovers above the sea as part of the rescue operation
Yesterday, a New Year’s Day swim had to be cancelled due to the serious weather conditions.
Hornsea Inshore Rescue wrote on Facebook on Thursday: ‘Unfortunately the sea conditions were just not suitable today for us to condone anyone entering the water, with the tide still flowing and large breaking waves on the edge, we had to make the unfortunate decision not to do the dip in the sea.’
Resident Darrin Stevens told the BBC he had seen lots of emergency crews near the beach on Friday, adding: ‘It’s just blue lights, wall-to-wall from one side to the other’.
HM Coastguard confirmed reports of the incident were received at about 3:10pm.
A spokesperson for HM Coastguard said: ‘HM Coastguard is searching for two missing people in the water off Withernsea today, 2 January.
‘First alerted to reports of people in difficulty in the water at around 3.10pm, assets sent to the scene include an HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft, Coastguard Rescue Teams from Withernsea, Hornsea and Hull, the RNLI’s inshore lifeboat from Withernsea and all-weather lifeboat from Bridlington, and Hornsea Inshore Rescue.
‘Yorkshire Ambulance Service has been sent as well as an air ambulance. Humberside Police and Humberside Fire and Rescue are also in attendance.’
The incident was ongoing as of 7:15pm this evening.
The large scale operation includes crews from across all emergency services
The flight path of the Coastguard helicopter flying over the area as part of the rescue mission
The Coastguard plane has been doing laps of the area as part of the operation
Hornsea Inshore Rescue confirmed on social media that it had deployed a casualty care crew to the scene due to ‘horrendous conditions’ in the water.
In a post shared on Facebook, it wrote: ‘Called out, unable to launch lifeboat due to horrendous conditions and three metre waves breaking on our slipway which would knock the tractor and trailer sideways off the ramp.
‘Our 4×4 vehicle [is] en route to Withernsea with casualty care crew.’
A planned promenade parkrun, set to be held on Saturday, has been cancelled due to the ongoing incident and the cold temperatures.
