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HM Coastguard Whitby is a Search and Rescue Team, part of the Coastguard Rescue Service. This page is not monitored 24/7.

Whitby Coastguard are a Search and Rescue Team and form part of the Coastguard Rescue Service of HM Coastguard. We are equipped and trained to carry out Searches, Rope Rescue and Water Safety and Rescue in addition to a number of other functions. We are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to respond to emergencies and incidents on the coast. In all coastal emergencies dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard. If you are interested in joining us as a volunteer, please leave a message or email [email protected]

16/10/2026

💙 Restart a Heart Day October 16th, 2026💙

Today marks Restart a Heart Day, a global initiative that shines a light on the importance of learning CPR and how to use an AED (defibrillator).

As Coastguard Rescue Officers, we train regularly in casualty care, including CPR and defibrillator use, because in a real emergency, those first few minutes can make all the difference.

Every minute counts when someone’s heart stops. The sooner CPR is started and an AED is used, the greater the chance of survival. We have had to put these skills into practice more times than we care to imagine over the years, on callouts in many different environments, it’s a skill that’s vital to helping save a life.

You don’t have to be part of the emergency services to save a life. There are fantastic resources online and local community courses where you can learn these vital skills.

Take a few minutes to become resus ready, you never know when you might be the one who makes the difference. 💛

04/10/2026

🚨Multi Agency Search 🚨

Many of you have been asking about the Coastguard helicopter and the emergency services activity around Whitby overnight and again today, so we wanted to share a brief update.

Shortly before midnight, our team was tasked with colleagues from Staithes, Ravenscar and Scarborough following reports of a missing person believed to be in the area.

A large multi-agency search continued throughout the night, including both lifeboats from Whitby RNLI lifeboat and Scarborough and Coastguard helicopter 912. Teams were stood down shortly after daybreak for some much needed rest.

It wasn’t for long, though, as we were asked to resume the search later this morning. Daylight gave us better visibility and, once again, it was a real multi agency effort, with Mountain Rescue and the police helicopter also involved.

After several more hours, the missing person was safely located by search teams and passed into the care of the ambulance service.

We’re pleased to report that this had a safe outcome. Thank you to every team and agency who worked through the night and into the next day.

This incident is one of many, that require a multi agency response, quietly being undertaken in early hours by both full time emergency services and volunteers and workers who give their own time around their day jobs and families.

For everyone’s privacy, we won’t be sharing any further details.

If you see or feel someone is in trouble along our coastline, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

📟Keeping our community safe 24/7
💙Your Whitby Coastgaurd Rescue Team

18/09/2026

📟Emergency Multi Agency Response
📟Whitby Marina

Earlier today, Whitby Coastguard Rescue Team was tasked earlier today following reports of a car entering the water at Whitby Marina.

Before emergency services arrived, a member of the public acted quickly and helped the casualty from the water. We would like to thank them for their actions and for stepping in during what must have been a frightening situation.

We attended alongside North Yorkshire Police, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and Whitby RNLI, whose volunteer crew launched the inshore lifeboat.

From the moment we arrived, everyone worked side by side to manage the scene, support the casualty and make sure they received the care they needed. One casualty was transferred to a waiting ambulance and, thankfully, they are safe and well.

The tyre marks left behind are a reminder of just how quickly things can go wrong around the water. Harbours and marinas are busy working areas, with vehicles, people, equipment and unprotected edges all close together.

Please take care when driving or working near the harbour, remain aware of your surroundings and keep a safe distance from the water’s edge wherever possible.

A real team effort today, beginning with the actions of a member of the public and continuing as all the emergency services worked together for the same outcome.

🚨Today marks 110 callouts for the team so far this year, which means 110 people have had possibly their worst day, remember to be kind, respectful and give emergency services space to work if you see them out in incidents such as this.

Remember, if you see or experience any dangers around our coast, harbiurs, marinas, piers- call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

📟keeping our community safe 24/7
💙Your Whitby Coastguard Team.

10/09/2026

World Su***de Prevention Day 💛

There are some jobs we attend as Coastguards that stay with us, long after the stand down has come.

Mental health incidents are a very real part of what we do. We meet people on some of the hardest days of their lives, when everything has become too much and they simply can’t see a way forward. Sometimes we’re there for a long time, talking, listening, sitting alongside someone and just trying to help them through those next few minutes, and then the next few after that.

We work closely with our colleagues across the emergency services during these incidents, but underneath the uniforms and everything going on around us, it’s really just people trying to help another person through an incredibly difficult moment. Sometimes that means talking, sometimes listening, and sometimes it simply means staying beside someone so they aren’t alone.

We don’t talk publicly about the details of these jobs. They are deeply personal moments that belong to the people and families involved. But they do stay with us. They remind us that a mental health crisis doesn’t have a particular face, and sometimes the person who seems absolutely fine can be carrying far more than anyone around them realises.

One thing we really want people to know is that you are never wasting our time by asking for help.

If our pagers sound because somebody is worried about you, we will turn out. If you’re somewhere on our coast because everything has become too much, we will come. There will be no judgement about how you got there, no annoyance that we’ve been called and no feeling that there was something more important we should have been doing.

Because in that moment, you are important.

We would far rather pull our boots on, leave our dinner, get out of bed or step away from whatever we’re doing and find somebody safe than ever have a person believe they weren’t worth making that call for.

You are.

So on World Su***de Prevention Day, we’re asking you to look out for each other.

Check in on your friends, your family, your workmates and the person who’s gone a little quieter than usual. Ask how they are and give them the time to answer properly. Maybe ask them twice. You don’t need the perfect words and you don’t need to fix everything. Sometimes listening, sitting beside someone or reminding them that they don’t have to face whatever they’re going through alone is enough.

And if you’re the person struggling today, please tell someone. However difficult it feels to say the words, give somebody the chance to listen and stand beside you. There are people who want to help you get through today, even if right now you can’t quite see what tomorrow looks like.

We have over 12,000 people following this small, coastal town Coastguard page. If this reaches all those people but helps just one person make a phone call, send a message, knock on someone’s door, ask the question twice, or reach out themselves, then it’s worth us writing it.

We’ve seen enough through the work we do to know just how much that one conversation can matter.

So please stay. Please talk. Please give somebody the opportunity to help.

There will always be someone willing to listen, and if that call brings our team to you, we will come.

Please look after yourselves, and please look after each other. 💛

If someone is in immediate danger, call 999. Samaritans are available free, 24 hours a day, on 116 123.

And as always, in a coastal emergency, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

📟💙Your whitby coastguard rescue team

***dePreventionDay

09/09/2026

🚨 999 DAY 🚨

Today is 999 Day, and a chance to think about all the people behind those three numbers.

When most people think of 999, the services that immediately spring to mind are probably Police, Fire and Ambulance.

But around our coastline, there is another emergency service answering that same call.

HM Coastguard.

Here in Whitby, our team is made up of ordinary people from our local community. We have jobs, families, children, dogs, plans for the weekend and dinners going cold at home….. then the pager goes.

Sometimes we have absolutely no idea how many hours of the day or night we will need.
It might be someone cut off by the tide, an injured walker, a person over the cliff, a search that carries on long into the night, someone in the water, a medical emergency, or someone in a mental health crisis who needs our help.

Sometimes it’s technical and physical, ropes, stretchers, searches and difficult terrain.

Other times, the most important thing we can do is sit beside someone, talk to them, reassure a frightened family or simply stay with them through what might be one of the worst days of their life.

But so much of what we do is done together.

Coastguard, RNLI, Ambulance, Police, Fire, Mountain Rescue and the many other teams and organisations we work alongside. Different uniforms, different skills, but all there for the same reason, because somebody needs help.

There is also a lot of Coastguard life that people never really see.

Training after a full day at work. Kit checks. Wet ropes and muddy equipment that still need sorting when a job is over. The pager beside the bed. Meals abandoned and plans changed at the last minute.

And our families know that side of it better than anyone.

They’re the ones who hear the pager and know dinner might have to wait. Who carry on with bedtime, change plans, cover things at home and wait for us to eventually walk back through the door.

We couldn’t do it without them. 💙

We’re incredibly lucky to have the support of our community too. Whether that’s stopping for a chat when we’re out and about, enthusiasm from teachers on our school visits, bringing the kids over to see us at events, sharing our safety messages or simply looking out for each other.

And when something doesn’t look right, making that call, we hope most of you will never need us.

But if you do, we’re here. On the cliffs, beaches, harbour, paths and coastline. On a freezing winter night or a sunny bank holiday. At two in the afternoon or two in the morning.

We’re just ordinary people who, when that pager sounds, leave whatever we’re doing and go.

So today, on 999 Day, we’re proud to stand alongside everyone across our emergency services who does exactly that.

To the teams we work alongside, the community that supports us and the families waiting for us at home, thank you. 💙

And to every person, in every service, who answers when somebody calls 999, think of them today when you hear the sirens.

Remember➡️ In a coastal emergency, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

📟 Your Whitby Coastguard Rescue Team
💙Here to keep our community safe 24/7

05/09/2026

☀️As the summer holidays come to an end, we’ve been looking back at what has been an incredibly busy few months for Whitby Coastguard Rescue Team.

And it’s actually quite hard to put it all into words.

We’ve been called to people in mental health crisis. Missing and vulnerable people. Missing children on busy beaches.

People cut off by the tide. Dogs over cliffs. Injuries in some difficult terrain and hard to reach places. Long carry offs and ambulance assists. Cardiac arrests. Searches in the dark. Rope rescues. And jobs where the outcome, or the people involved, stay with you afterwards.

Some have been over quickly, some stand downs within minutes.

Others have lasted hours.

Some have seen us home, boots off and kettle on, only for the pager to go again.

And that’s just the jobs.

There’s training every week. Kit to clean, check and maintain. Vehicles to look after. Skills to keep current. Paperwork to finish. Exercises and joint training with the other emergency services.

All so that when that pager goes, whatever it is for, we’re ready.

Then we go home.

Back to our actual jobs. Businesses. Kids. Families. Dogs. School holidays. Tea that’s probably gone cold. Plans that have changed at the last minute and alarms still set for work the next morning.

Our families get very used to hearing the pager go and watching one of us disappear out of the door.

Sometimes halfway through tea, sometimes halfway through bedtime, sometimes at 2am, and sometimes, just as we’ve got back from the last one we are heading out the door again.

We don’t share any of this because we want praise, and we’ve never wanted Coastguard callouts to become about who has done the most jobs, because every number is a person.

Someone who was frightened, hurt, lost, cut off, lost, unwell, or having a really bad day and needing someone to come and help.

That’s the part that matters.

It’s also why we couldn’t do what we do without each other.

Our own team, the other Coastguard teams who turn out alongside us. RNLI, Police, Ambulance and Fire and our families at home who quietly rearrange things when the pager changes the plan. Again.

It’s been a long summer, there have been some really difficult jobs amongst the good outcomes, plenty of tired faces and an awful lot of cups of tea.

But when the pager goes, the same thing happens.

We turn up.

For the casualty.

For their family.

And for each other.

And after everything this summer has thrown at us, we’re pretty proud of the individuals behind Whitby Coastguard Rescue Team.

📞don’t forget, if you need us in a coastal emergency, call 999 and ask for the coastguard.

📟Your Whitby Coastguard Rescue Team
💙Serving our community 24/7

03/09/2026

Working together, before it matters 🌊🚒

Yesterday, our Deputy Station Officer joined other station officers, deputies and Coastguard Rescue Officers from Hartlepool and Redcar for a joint training session with Cleveland Fire Service.

The scenario involved a person overboard and in the water between the harbour and a shipping vessel. Cleveland Fire Service’s water rescue team deployed their inflatable rescue platform to recover the casualty (a training dummy thankfully!) before Coastguard Rescue Officers used our rope rescue equipment, using the fire appliance as our anchor, to complete the extraction to a place of safety.

Training like this is always really valuable for us. It’s not just about practising our own skills, but getting to know the teams we could end up working alongside, seeing how they operate and understanding what each service can bring to an incident.

We work closely with our flank Coastguard teams throughout the year, and opportunities to train alongside other emergency services only make that teamwork stronger when we’re called upon for real.

A really useful day and great to have Whitby represented alongside Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland Fire Service.

Thanks to everyone involved 👏

Need some help at the coast? 📞 #999 and ask for the coastguard.

📟 Your Whitby. Coastguard Rescue Team
💙on call for our community 24/7

31/08/2026

📟Whitby 08 Stand Down 📟

At midnight tonight John officially comes off the Coastguard pager for the last time, after 13 years with Whitby Coastguard Rescue Team.

It’s going to be very strange not having Whitby 08 on the pager anymore.

Over 13 years John has clocked up hundreds of jobs with us. He’s always been one of the calm, logical and level headed ones and, whatever the job, someone we know we can rely on to get on with what needs doing.

He’s also brilliant with people, and over the years we’ve often turned to John when we’ve needed someone to stay with the family or friends of a casualty during some of our more difficult jobs. Sometimes that means explaining what’s happening, sometimes answering questions and sometimes just sitting with someone when there really isn’t much you can say.

John has also been a big part of our school and educational visits over the years, so there will be plenty of children (and probably quite a few who aren’t children anymore!) around Whitby who have met him, climbed through a Coastguard vehicle, looked at the kit or listened to him talking about staying safe around our coast.

Then of course there are all the bits that come with carrying a pager for 13 years. The training nights, weekends, interrupted meals, nights out of bed and family plans that suddenly change when the pager goes.

That’s a lot of years of turning up.

We’ll miss having John on the team and knowing Whitby 08 is there when the pager goes, although we’re sure we haven’t seen the last of him!

So tonight, at midnight, after 13 years of answering that pager, it’s our turn to say it.

Whitby 08, Stand Down.

Thanks for everything John, and enjoy having a bit less noise in your pocket.

You’ll always be part of Whitby team. 💙

From everyone at Whitby Coastguard and beyond.

📟 Whitby Coastguard Search and Rescue
💙Here for our community 24/7

20/08/2026

Multi Agency work is a huge part of the Coastguard Rescue ethos- thank you to NYFRS for sharing this message, some safety tips from our very own Whitby Deputy Station Officer 💙

12/08/2026

🚨 A little reminder from our team this week… 🚨

It’s been a very busy summer for the team so far, with multiple callouts daily over the last few weeks.

We’ve had a few callouts alongside Whitby RNLI lifeboat this week to people who have found themselves cut off by the tide along our coastline.

It’s easily done. You set off along the beach, the tide looks miles away, there’s plenty of sand and it feels like you’ve got loads of time. But around our stretch of coast, that can change surprisingly quickly.

And when it does, it’s our Coastguard Rescue Officers and our colleagues from the RNLI who are heading out to find you and get you home safely.

This post isn’t about telling people not to enjoy our coastline, it’s quite the opposite. We live and work here because we love it too. We just want everyone to enjoy it and get home safely afterwards.

If you’re heading out along the beach, especially somewhere a little more remote, have a quick check before you go.

🌊 Check the tide times, and remember that in some places your route can disappear several hours before high tide.

🌬️ Have a look at the weather and wind too. Tide height, wind direction and the shape of the coastline can all make a difference.

⏱️Give yourself plenty of time to get back. If you’re not sure, turn around earlier rather than pushing on.

📱 Take a charged phone and let somebody know where you’re going and roughly when you expect to be back.

Our coastline is absolutely beautiful, and we want people out enjoying it. Just remember that the way you walked in might not still be there when you try to walk back.

And if it does go wrong, don’t try to climb cliffs or find a risky way around the water. Get yourself somewhere safe, stay together if you’re with others, and call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

We’d much rather come and help you than have you put yourself in more danger trying to get out.

Stay safe and enjoy our coast

🩵 Your Whitby Coastguard Rescue Team
📟 On call 24/7 for our community

Address

Captain Cook Crescent
Whitby
YO224

Telephone

+441262672317

Website

https://hmcoastguard.uk/

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