Beaches in the United Kingdom

A beach country that does not think of itself as one. The range of tides is among the largest anywhere, so half these beaches are a different size twice a day. The south coast is shingle and Victorian pier. Cornwall and Wales have the surf. The Hebrides have shell-sand beaches that photograph like the Caribbean and sit at twelve degrees. The tide is the first thing to check anywhere on this coast. Ranges here are among the largest in the world — fourteen metres in the Bristol Channel — and a beach can double or disappear within hours, with mud and cut-off risk on several of them. Water temperature runs from about eight degrees in winter to eighteen in late summer, and a year-round swimming culture exists regardless. Lifeguard cover is seasonal and concentrated; the coast path system, which runs continuously around much of the country, is often the better way to use these beaches.

They spread across four beach worlds, the largest group being two cold-water shores. Together they account for 24 km of shore. · computed from the 6 records below