Flint Coastguard Rescue Team has issued beach safety advice after responding to a series of incidents during the Bank Holiday week, including reports of missing children and a major late-night search of the River Dee.
The volunteer rescue team was first tasked on Monday, May 25, alongside Rhyl Coastguard Rescue Team, after reports of a missing child at West Parade in Rhyl.
However, officers were stood down before leaving the station after the child was found safe and reunited with their parents.
The following day, at 3.54pm on Tuesday, May 26, the team was again called alongside Rhyl Coastguard Rescue Team after reports of two missing children on Rhyl Beach.
As Coastguard Rescue Officers arrived at the scene, both children had been found safe and well. RNLI Rhyl crews also attended the incident.
Following the incidents, Flint Coastguard Rescue Team urged families visiting beaches during the warm weather to take extra precautions to avoid children becoming separated in busy areas.
Safety advice issued by the team included agreeing a meeting point, taking a photograph of children on arrival to show what they are wearing, supervising children closely and using wristbands containing contact details.
In a separate incident later that week, the team was tasked at 11.45pm on Wednesday, May 27, to assist Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service after reports that a person had entered the River Dee from Grosvenor Bridge in Chester.
Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team and RNLI Flint Lifeboat were also deployed as part of a large multi-agency search operation.
Coastguard Rescue Officers carried out bankside searches while lifeboat crews searched the river between Saltney Ferry and Chester.
A number of emergency services attended the incident, including North West Ambulance Service and fire crews from Chester, Powey Lane, Tarporley, Knutsford, Penketh and Middlewich, alongside North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
Search teams also used rafts and underwater camera equipment during the operation.
Despite extensive searches, no person was found and Cheshire Police continues to lead the investigation.
The incidents come amid growing warnings from emergency services and water safety organisations following a number of deaths across the UK during the recent Bank Holiday heatwave.
Coastguard teams have warned that rivers and coastal waters can remain dangerously cold even during hot weather, with strong currents and cold water shock posing serious risks to swimmers and anyone entering open water.
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