SELECTED ENGLISH BATHING WATERSHow the checks work

W↟UK WILD SWIM GUIDEcheck before you travel

BEFORE YOUR NEXT OPEN-WATER SWIM

CHECK THE PLACE.
PLAN THE EXIT.

Choose a covered place, open its exact Environment Agency record, review current air weather and local questions, then save the checks you still need to complete on arrival.

START A TRIP CHECK CHOOSE A PLACE

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

01Check an official profile or local warning
02Read conditions, not just temperature
03Inspect entry, exit and escape routes
04Tell someone and keep a warm exit plan

No page on this site declares a location safe to swim.

PLACES COVERED

Choose the place you plan to visit

The guide currently covers selected English designated bathing waters. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different official systems and are not included.

Search place or areaRegionWater type

RETURNED16editorially reviewed place records

Yorkshire · River · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

River Wharfe at Ilkley

A research file for the designated river record Wharfe at Cromwheel - Ilkley. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

South East · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

West Wittering

A research file for the designated coast record West Wittering. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

South East · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Brighton Kemptown

A research file for the designated coast record Brighton Kemptown. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

South West · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Bournemouth Pier

A research file for the designated coast record Bournemouth Pier. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

South West · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Fistral North

A research file for the designated coast record Fistral North. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

South West · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Woolacombe Village

A research file for the designated coast record Woolacombe Village. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

South West · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach

A research file for the designated coast record Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

East of England · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Southwold The Pier

A research file for the designated coast record Southwold The Pier. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

East of England · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Cromer

A research file for the designated coast record Cromer. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

Yorkshire · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Whitby

A research file for the designated coast record Whitby. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

North East · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Tynemouth Long Sands South

A research file for the designated coast record Tynemouth Long Sands South. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

North West · Coast · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Formby

A research file for the designated coast record Formby. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

North West · Lake · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Derwent Water at Crow Park

A research file for the designated lake record Derwent Water at Crow Park. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

South West · Lake · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Henleaze Lake

A research file for the designated lake record Henleaze Lake. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

East Midlands · Lake · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

Colwick Country Park (West Lake)

A research file for the designated lake record Colwick Country Park (West Lake). Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

South West · River · BEFORE-YOU-GO CHECKS

River Frome at Farleigh Hungerford

A research file for the designated river record River Frome at Farleigh Hungerford. Open the exact official profile, then verify same-day conditions, access and on-site notices separately.

PLACE EXAMPLE / ILKLEY

What to check before you go

Official classification, current weather and your own arrival observations answer different questions. None is a stand-alone all-clear.

REMOTE CONTEXT

Official profile first, then live environmental context

RETRIEVING

EXACT DESIGNATED BATHING-WATER RECORDWharfe at Cromwheel - IlkleyEUBWID uke4100-08901 · designation register checked 13 August 2026

Open current Environment Agency profile

Freshness gate: modelled weather older than 3 hours and gauge readings older than 6 hours are treated as unavailable. Timestamps that cannot be parsed or sit more than 15 minutes in the future are rejected, not labelled live.

Air temperature—Not water temperature

Feels like—Forecast-model value

Wind / gust—Modelled at 10 metres

Current rain—Does not describe catchment rainfall

NEAREST RETURNED EA GAUGE — RELATION UNVERIFIEDNo gauge returnedDo not infer a level at the bathing reach from this absence.

LATEST GAUGE READING— No dated reading returned

Inspect source and failure boundaries

Water-quality classifications, sample history and pollution-risk warnings are deliberately not copied from an unverified nearest-point feed. Use the exact Environment Agency profile above.

Do not combine these into a safety score. The official profile, modelled air weather, any nearby gauge and on-site observations answer different questions. A complete response means only that the requested remote sources returned—not that conditions are safe.

Official status

Annual classification, profile, pollution-risk warning and local signage. A classification describes a monitored period; it is not a real-time all-clear.

Open Environment Agency profiles