With the weather heating up and the bank holiday on the horizon, many Brits will be planning a trip to seaside.
But while a day at the beach might sound appealing, there are a few spots you’ll want to leave off your hitlist.
England’s 19 dirtiest beaches have been named and shamed at the second annual ‘Brown Flag Awards’.
The team at Holidayparkguru.co.uk looked at the Environmental Agency’s summertime water quality data to determine which beaches have failed to make the cleanliness grade.
Brown Flag beaches are those that are rated ‘poor’ by the Environment Agency due to the amount of bacteria in the water caused by sewage and waste.
Sadly, the number of Brown Flag beaches in England has soared from 13 in 2024 to 19 in 2025, an increase of 46 per cent.
Somerset and Kent have the highest number of Brown Flag beaches, with each county having three beaches on the list.
At the other end of the scale, Northumberland officially has the country’s cleanest beaches.
England’s 19 dirtiest beaches have been named and shamed at the second annual ‘Brown Flag Awards’. Dymchurch in Kent (above) is on the list
Blackpool North (pictured above) in Lancashire has also been awarded a Brown Flag this year
More than 90 per cent of the county’s beaches achieved the highest possible score for water cleanliness.
Dorset, Devon and Cornwall also scored well when it came to cleanliness although each of the counties is also home to a Brown Flag beach.
Lincolnshire and Hampshire are the next cleanest counties.
And only St Mary’s Bay in Kent had managed to clean up its act since the last Brown Flag Awards and is no longer on the concern list.
Holidayparkguru.co.uk has said it will be handing out free brown flags, each emblazoned with the poo emoji, to the counties with dirty beaches.
Robbie Lane, a keen sea-swimmer who works at HolidayParkGuru.co.uk, says: ‘I would like to extend my sympathies to beaches in Worthing, Lyme Regis and the other newcomers who have given Brown Flag Awards for the first time.
‘Commiserations also to Weston Super Mare, Blackpool and other resorts that have retained their “awards”, like a stubborn barnacle clinging onto a sewer pipe.
‘We had hoped that we’d handing out fewer Brown Flags this year – but the numbers have surged.
Although Cornwall was one of the cleanest counties, Porthluney Beach (pictured above) was given a Brown Flag
Bognor Regis Beach (pictured above) in Sussex is unfortunately on the Brown Flag list this year
Scarborough South Bay (pictured above) is on the Brown Flag list in England
‘Several of the newcomers are newly designated swimming spots whilst others have gone down the pan since last year.
‘The good news is that two-thirds of beaches in England are rated as “excellent” for their water quality.
‘Do your research this summer and you’ll be saying “wish you were here” rather than “wish I’d worn a hazmat suit”.
‘Let’s give a shout out to St Mary’s Bay in Kent, which is the only beach in the whole country that managed to wipe away its Brown Flag!’
