UK’s Potentially ‘Poopy’ Beaches a Growing Concern for Tourists

07.05.2024 - 18:50 / travelpulse.com / Laurie Baratti

The United Kingdom (UK) continues to be a top destination for American travelers, but if you’re planning on soaking in some of the country’s incredible dramatic coastlines and picturesque beaches while you’re there on holiday, a word of warning—you may find yourself swimming in sewage if you aren’t careful. 

According to CNN, the past few years have seen the UK’s problem of effluent-filled beaches worsening after the news of raw sewage overflows caused a national scandal in 2022. The problem can be traced to the country’s system of “storm overflows”, which dump the contents of overly full drains into rivers and seas, and are supposed to be activated only in exceptional circumstances. 

But, since 2021, these events have become all too common, creating water quality problems on a truly shocking scale. In the intervening years, Britons have too often seen beaches closed during peak summer weekends or found themselves swimming in poopy waters, as well as witnessing dead marine life floating in their busy rivers. 

In 2021 alone, the data indicated that the UK’s storm overflows across the nation belched out contaminated wastewater for a combined 2.7 million hours, which translates to over 300 years. And it has only gotten worse since then, sparking outrage among the British public in 2022 when the problem was brought to public attention.

A bank holiday weekend in August 2022—a time when Brits typically head to the beaches—saw a beach that’s popular among Londoners in Brighton and Hove closed down due to the spillage. “Brighton and Hove seem to be deluged over and over again,” Hugo Tagholm, former CEO of the marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage, told CNN at the time. 

People enjoying the Blackpool Sands beach near Dartmouth in Devon, England. (Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/Matthew)

This weekend the public celebrates another bank holiday in Britain and, while Brighton and Hove beaches are safe for swimming, many others around the island nation aren’t. In fact, Surfers Against Sewage’s live tracker tool indicates that 12 out of 14 storm overflows located on the Isle of Wight (a popular escape among vacationers) are presently spewing sewage. Overflows are also operating in Devon, also a well-attended getaway spot, including one on Sandy Bay—a beach that had previously been awarded Blue Flag status for its unspoiled waters. 

According to the annual “Event Duration Monitoring” (EDM) report on storm overflows, released in March by the UK government’s Environment Agency, sewage spills increased in 2023 by an astounding 54 percent. The average number of spills per overflow in a single year had increased from 23 in 2022 to 33 in 2023, which is more than one every couple of weeks. The total number of spills