The beaches to avoid in England with the worst water quality

The dirtiest beaches in England have been revealed based on water quality, including coastal spots in some of the country’s most popular holiday hotspots such as Cornwall and Devon.

The UK’s Environment Agency tests England’s bathing waters every year by taking samples in the summer to build up an assessment of the water quality, providing them with a classification from ‘excellent’ to ‘poor’.

The classifications are based on the analysis of samples taken over a four-year period.

The Environment Agency tests the samples for bacteria to indicate if there is faecal matter in the water, which could come from sewage, livestock, wildlife, birds and road drainage.

If bathing water is classified as poor, then a sign advising against bathing will be displayed, yet the beach will remain open for people to use at their leisure.

In the 2024 study of all 455 bathing waters across England, 37 were classed as poor, and out of that group 19 were beaches.

Among those on the list were Porthluney in Cornwall, Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach in Dorset and Bunster Beach in Somerset.

Further up north, Tynemouth Cullercoats in Tyne and Wear, Scarborough South Bay in North Yorkshire and Blackpool North in Lancashire landed in the ‘poor’ category.

Holiday Park Guru completed a further analysis of the Environment Agency’s data, what they call its ‘Brown Flag Awards’ for 2025, and found that Lancashire actually ranks last as a county, since none of its bathing spots are yet to gain an ‘excellent’ rating.

Meanwhile, more than 90 per cent of Northumberland’s beaches achieved the highest category for water cleanliness.

Despite having beaches on the poor quality list, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall are highly rated, too.

However, Somerset, Cumbria, Merseyside and Kent are all counties that have less than desirable water quality at their bathing spots.

The publication also found that the Isle of Wight, County Durham, Lincolnshire and Suffolk saw all of their designated bathing areas gaining one of the top two ratings (‘good’ or ‘excellent’).

The Environment Agency has made its data public so bathers can make informed choices about where to relax and swim, as well as see what beaches are doing to improve their water quality.

As bathing spots are ever-changing, water pollution can be temporarily reduced, as rainfall, tides, weather and the season can all impact its quality.

England’s beaches with a ‘poor’ water quality rating in 2024

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