Wet summer sees Welsh RNLI rescues fall

With 35 callouts during the summer months, the Trearddur Bay Atlantic class boat was the busiest in Wales

The RNLI says a wet summer has led to a small drop in the number of lifeboat crews called out on the coast of Wales.

In the three months from June, RNLI crews attended 496 emergency calls - down from 559 in 2011.

The busiest lifeboat station was at Trearddur Bay on Anglesey, with 35 incidents, closely followed by Tenby's volunteer crews, with 31 callouts.

The summer also saw crews assist with the flooding that devastated Borth and Aberystwyth.

"The number of lifeboat launches might be down compared to last year's figures, however this doesn't take away from the invaluable work that the volunteer lifeboat crew do across the coast," said Andy Hurley, the RNLI training inspector for Wales and the west of England.

"Even in bad weather, the charity's volunteers have been kept busy by responding to flash floods in the Borth and Aberystwyth area, working with other emergency services to ensure the public's safety."

Memorable

Other major incidents saw crews from two stations, St Davids in Pembrokeshire and at Mumbles, Swansea, were both involved in lengthy operations over the summer.

In both cases, the crews were at sea for more than five hours, as they rescued stricken yachts in deteriorating weather.

Across the UK, the RNLI's lifeboats launched 3,575 times in the summer - down from 3,633 in 2011.

But the weather may have been wet, the summer months did bring some rewarding highlights for the charity's volunteers.

Crew members from Beaumaris took part in a memorable leg of the Olympic torch relay, as they ferried the flame from the town to Menai Bridge.

Meanwhile, the coxswain of the St Davids' RNLI team joined other volunteers on one of the charity's Tamar class all-weather boats as part of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.