The Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade has said "periods of poor visibility at the coast due to the arrival of sea frets" has caused extra lifeboat callouts over the weekend.
Last week the region saw sunny warm weather with thousands of people flocking to the seaside to enjoy the cloudless skies. However, the coast was hit by dense fog on Friday afternoon as some of the North East favourite's beaches sat under a thick blanket of damp, cold mist.
Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade has said due to sea fret they responded to extra callouts to assist the Coastguard and RNLI during the weekend.
Read more See the sea fret that covered the North East coast on Friday afternoon
On Thursday at around 11.44am, the Coastguard paged the Brigade to assist RNLI Beach Lifeguards at King Edward’s Bay with a 64 year-old man who had fallen on rocks and suffered a number of cuts and grazes. The Lifeguards had dressed the man’s injuries and then passed him into the care of Brigade members.
They reassessed his injuries and, as the man was alone and had no access to his own car, the Brigade took the man to a local minor injuries unit so that he could receive further medical attention.
On Saturday at around 12.46pm, the Coastguard paged the Brigade after a report was received of two divers missing from their dive boat in the Whitley Bay area. As Brigade members made their way to the scene, it was confirmed that the divers had reached the rocks at St Mary’s Island, but that their dive boat was no longer in the area.
Brigade members then assisted the pair, who were unharmed, across the rocks.
Later that day at around 6.16pm, the Coastguard paged the Brigade to assist RNLI Beach Lifeguards in caring for two casualties in King Edward's Bay, Tynemouth.
Brigade members arrived at the scene to find one person had swallowed sea water while getting into difficulties swimming and another who had taken ill on the beach shortly afterward. The Brigade members worked with the lifeguards and North East Ambulance Service to care for the two.
The same night, the Coastguard paged the Brigade and Blyth Coastguard Rescue Team to a report of missing swimmers at Hartley Bay. Brigade members arrived at the scene and spoke with the informant who confirmed that both swimmers had returned to shore.
On Sunday at around 4.21pm, Brigade members carried out a coastal patrol as the Coastguard tasked them to proceed to the rocks at Brown’s Bay to check on a group who were thought to be in danger of being cut off by the incoming tide.
Team members quickly arrived at the scene and found that the group had returned to the beach and were not in need of any further assistance.
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