Lifeguards warn about offshore winds and cold sea

RNLI lifeguards are back on Jersey beaches for the summer season

Lifeguards are warning about offshore winds and low sea temperatures as they return to Jersey's beaches for the summer.

RNLI lifeguards are stationed at St Brelade's, Plemont, Greve de Lecq and St Ouen's Bay.

Lifeguard Arron White said the water could leave you "breathless" if you stayed in for too long.

He said lifeguards had already been "quite busy", with offshore winds causing problems for some beachgoers.

Mr White said St Brelade's has "been particularly busy" with a few rescues involving the small lifeboat.

He added: "Just a heads up to people if they are heading down that way, or indeed out here, out west on an inflatable, a kayak, a SUP [stand-up paddleboard], that kind of thing, then we would advise them to take real caution, because it can look quite calm when the wind's strong offshore, but once you get out to sea it can get a bit sketchy and make it quite hard to come back in."

'Float to live'

Mr White said the RNLI's advice to anyone who found themselves in trouble at sea was to "float to live".

"The best thing to do is not panic, stay calm, if you can paddle parallel to the beach, so out of where the rip's pulling you instead of trying to swim against it, because that will really just tire you out," he said.

Mr White added: "If you can float on your back, put your legs out and your arms out either side of you, you can conserve energy, give the lifeguards a wave for help."

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