January’s storms called our volunteers into action in hazardous conditions that pushed our people and craft to their limits

The New Year had hardly begun when Penlee and The Lizard lifeboat crews launched into extreme conditions. They searched for a 26-year-old man missing off the Cornish coast in the very early hours of the morning. Four young people had been paddling in huge breaking waves when a larger wave swept them off their feet. Three were lucky enough to scramble back to safety in the darkness, but their friend had disappeared.

The crews of Penlee’s Severn class and Atlantic 75 lifeboats launched at 1.30am across Mount’s Bay into high winds and large breaking seas. Halfway across the bay it was deemed too dangerous for the inshore lifeboat crew to continue and they returned to the station.

The Lizard’s Tamar class lifeboat, a rescue helicopter, coastguard and local cliff rescue teams also searched the area. There was no moonlight that night and in heavy showers visibility was very poor. Sadly, the man was not found.

Later that morning, Dun Laoghaire inshore lifeboat crew were also in danger of exceeding their operational limits when a kitesurfer needed help off Sandymount, Dublin. The man had been out with friends when he started struggling in the conditions, which were so rough that he couldn’t swim back to shore. Launching into 25-knot winds at 10.50am, the lifeboat volunteers showed considerable skill as they avoided capsize in the waves, pulled the man onboard and took him back to shore.

New Year’s Day celebrations were also cut short for Mudeford lifeboat crew when they searched for a missing man along the heavily flooded River Stour in Dorset. With a storm forecast around midnight, time was of the essence on the following night in Cumbria for the Barrow crew.

They launched their Tamar class all-weather lifeboat at 9.45pm on Thursday 2 January and headed to a disabled wind farm maintenance boat with eight passengers. The 130-tonne vessel had lost power in both her engines and another wind farm vessel couldn't provide an effective tow. Thankfully, the lifeboat crew were able to bring her back into Barrow Docks less than an hour before the storm hit.

The following day marked the start of a very busy weekend for our volunteers. Newcastle’s inshore and all-weather lifeboat crews launched at 9am on Friday 3 January in force 7 winds and 2m swells. They searched the Co Down coast with coastguard teams and helicopters at 9am following reports of a man lost at sea. They later discovered that the call appeared to be a hoax.

Sheerness all-weather lifeboat crew launched too that afternoon. They set off at 1.20pm in force 8–9 winds to rescue a 50-year-old windsurfer in difficulty off the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

Plymouth lifeboat crew also braved atrocious weather that day to search for a missing person. The coastguard team and helicopter continued searching for another hour but could not locate the man.

That day saw Flood Rescue Team volunteers from across north Wales called to two rescues in one morning. First, Pwllheli lifeboat crew worked alongside North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, the Coastguard and other emergency services to help evacuate five people from a flooded caravan park in Pwllheli, Gwynedd, just after 8am. The team were then swiftly called away to rescue four people from a flooded farm near Barmouth. The waters were waist deep in some parts of their home. Based at St Asaph, the Flood Rescue Team stayed on stand-by throughout the week.

Flood teams were in action again on 7 January, when 18 members of the South West Flood Rescue Team deployed to Dorset where the county was experiencing treacherous fast-flowing floodwaters. The group were based at Christchurch Fire Station but travelled as far as Wimborne St Giles and north of Chichester, where water levels had doubled in the space of just 20 minutes overnight. The team included volunteers from Looe, Rock and Saltash in Cornwall, Dartmouth in Devon, Lyme Regis, Swanage, Weymouth and RNLI Headquarters in Poole, Dorset, and Portsmouth, Calshot and Lymington in Hampshire. They stayed on stand-by for several days – just some of the RNLI crew members who gave their time and put their safety on the line during the January storms.

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In Aberystwyth the strong winds and high tides battered the coastline and promenade (pictured, main), forcing people to evacuate their homes along the seafront. There were repeated warnings to the public to stay away from the coastline. But one photographer couldn’t resist.

On 4 January a 21-year-old man walked to the end of the wooden jetty at the harbour entrance to capture the scenes on camera. It soon became clear to passers-by that he was trapped within a mass of crashing sea and spray. Several of them made 999 calls, fearing for the man’s life.

The location and conditions made it impossible for either the police or coastguard teams to reach, so Aberystwyth inshore crew members launched (pictured above). Taking the most sheltered route across the harbour, the lifeboat pulled alongside the jetty. One volunteer climbed the ladder, put a lifejacket on the photographer and helped him back down to the lifeboat. Local police were waiting at the lifeboat station to give advice.