
Of the calls the RNLI respond to every year, some are a race against the tide while others are against the weather. But all of them are a race against time. The crew at Tower, on the River Thames in London, are the busiest of all the lifeboat stations, averaging over 500 shouts a year and aiming to launch to any emergency in under 90 seconds. When a call comes in about a man in the water near the Thames Barrier, they reach him with just moments to spare.\n\nIn Fleetwood, on the Lancashire coast, a desperate 999 call alerts the crew to a bait digger - out looking for worms on the sand flats - who has been caught out by the incoming spring tide and is in danger of being submerged and swept out to sea. And on the most southerly point of the Sussex coast, in Selsey, the crew race to the rescue of a local diver with a suspected case of ‘the bends’.
Source: BBC 2
Series 11: 4. Young Surf Hero
A teenage boy rushes to help save a paralysed surfer from drowning. When a 999 call comes in, the Appledore crew are tasked with an immediate launch. \n\nIn Little and Broad Hav ...
20-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 7. Yacht On The Reef
A French yacht has made a mayday call after suffering mechanical failure near Jersey. The St Helier crew must rescue the vessel before it drifts onto a notoriously treacherous r ...
17-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 9. Rip Current Surfer
The Porthcawl crew’s training night is disrupted when a call comes from a dog walker who has spotted a surfer in trouble below the cliffs at nearby Rest Bay.\n\nDuring the ...
13-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 6. Lifeguard Emergency
In Watergate Bay, one of Cornwall’s surfing hotspots, two teenage boys are caught in one of the beach’s notorious rip currents.\n\nWhen three distress signals are ac ...
11-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 8. Paddleboard 999
On the Northumberland coast, a 999 call comes in from a distressed woman whose husband is drifting out to sea on a paddleboard; the Seahouses crew race out to locate him.\n\nIn ...
07-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 5. Searching For A Pulse
When a kayaker calls a friend to say she’s in trouble out at sea, the line suddenly goes dead; the Happisburgh lifeboat crew finally find her over a mile off shore, face d ...
04-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 4. Teenage Mayday
A mayday comes in from a French yacht 16 miles west of St Helier, in the Channel Islands; on board are two teenage girls whose father is unconscious. On the Firth of Tay, the Br ...
27-09-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 3. Family Sos
The Newbiggin crew race to the rescue of three children who have been swept out to sea on a small inflatable dinghy; the situation escalates when reports come in that the father ...
24-09-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 2. Sandbank Shipwreck
When a mayday comes in from a yacht breaking up on a sandbank off the Norfolk coast, both the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston RNLI crew and two of Caister’s independent lifeb ...
13-09-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 1. Man Overboard
The Porthcawl crew respond to a 999 call about a local fisherman who’s fallen overboard. As they discover the casualty’s identity, their search becomes increasingly ...
07-09-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 6. Lifeguard Emergency
In Watergate Bay, one of Cornwall’s surfing hotspots, two teenage boys are caught in one of the beach’s notorious rip currents.\n\nWhen three distress signals are ac ...
11-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 7. Yacht On The Reef
A French yacht has made a mayday call after suffering mechanical failure near Jersey. The St Helier crew must rescue the vessel before it drifts onto a notoriously treacherous r ...
17-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 4. Young Surf Hero
A teenage boy rushes to help save a paralysed surfer from drowning. When a 999 call comes in, the Appledore crew are tasked with an immediate launch. \n\nIn Little and Broad Hav ...
20-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 8. Paddleboard 999
On the Northumberland coast, a 999 call comes in from a distressed woman whose husband is drifting out to sea on a paddleboard; the Seahouses crew race out to locate him.\n\nIn ...
07-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 2. Sandbank Shipwreck
When a mayday comes in from a yacht breaking up on a sandbank off the Norfolk coast, both the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston RNLI crew and two of Caister’s independent lifeb ...
13-09-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 3. Family Sos
The Newbiggin crew race to the rescue of three children who have been swept out to sea on a small inflatable dinghy; the situation escalates when reports come in that the father ...
24-09-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 5. Searching For A Pulse
When a kayaker calls a friend to say she’s in trouble out at sea, the line suddenly goes dead; the Happisburgh lifeboat crew finally find her over a mile off shore, face d ...
04-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 9. Rip Current Surfer
The Porthcawl crew’s training night is disrupted when a call comes from a dog walker who has spotted a surfer in trouble below the cliffs at nearby Rest Bay.\n\nDuring the ...
13-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 1. Man Overboard
The Porthcawl crew respond to a 999 call about a local fisherman who’s fallen overboard. As they discover the casualty’s identity, their search becomes increasingly ...
07-09-2026
BBC 2
Series 11: 4. Teenage Mayday
A mayday comes in from a French yacht 16 miles west of St Helier, in the Channel Islands; on board are two teenage girls whose father is unconscious. On the Firth of Tay, the Br ...
27-09-2026
BBC 2