Search resumes after two people drowned off the Yorkshire coast

Searches for a third person resumed on Saturday after two bodies were pulled from the sea off the East Yorkshire coast.

The HM Coastguard said the search near the seaside town of Withernsea had resumed at 6.30am after stopping shortly after midnight.

Officials were first alerted to reports of people in trouble near Withernsea at 3.10pm on Friday.

A 67-year-old man was found unconscious in the water and later confirmed to have died.

Late on Friday evening, Humberside Police said a second body was recovered from the sea and added that "circumstances are not believed to be suspicious."

"Coastguard Rescue Teams from Hull, Withernsea, Hornsea and Bridlington alongside police were sent to the scene at around 6.30am to search for one missing person. Searches remain ongoing," the HM Coastguard said.

People have been asked to avoid the area to allow the emergency services to carry out their work.

Search launched amid 'horrendous conditions'

HM Coastguard said on Friday it had deployed a search and rescue helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft to the scene on England's east coast.

The rescue operation also called in local coastguard and RNLI rescue teams, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, an air ambulance, Humberside Police and Humberside Fire and Rescue.

The conditions stopped Hornsea Inshore Rescue, a local independent group of volunteers, from launching.

"Called out, unable to launch the lifeboat due to horrendous conditions and three metre waves breaking on our slipway which would knock the tractor and trailer sideways off the ramp," it said in a statement on social media.

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In a post on Thursday, the group said it had called off a New Year's Day public swim because "the sea conditions were just not suitable today for us to condone anyone entering the water".

Temperatures in the seaside town were forecast to drop to freezing in the early hours of Saturday, and the local council has put a severe weather protocol in place due to the cold.

The Met Office predicted temperatures would peak at 2C on Saturday in the area, but would feel like -4C.

It comes after a 51-year-old man died after getting into difficulty in the water in Brighton.

(c) Sky News 2026: Search resumes after two people drowned off the Yorkshire coast