Saving Lives at Sea

Off the coast of Bridlington, a kayaker has been missing for an hour, and only the crews expert coastal knowledge can help track him down. A crew member on his first shout races to a dinghy capsize to find a man losing consciousness in the water. And when a fishing trawler sinks off the coast of the Shetland Islands, the fishermen and RNLI crew aboard must swim for their lives.

Every day around the UK, an army of unpaid volunteers put their lives on the line to try and save complete strangers. Saving Lives at Sea tells the story of the ordinary men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) who, across the country, are ready to launch their boats and race to the rescue within minutes of a cry for help - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, whatever the weather. Using footage shot on crews own cameras, this series takes us right into the heart of the action, capturing the unpredictable work of the RNLI in never-before-seen detail. In south west Wales, the Tenby crew race to a kayaker with suspected back and neck injuries after being caught out by a freak wave. Neighbouring Cornish crews must join forces in an epic 11-hour battle to stop a 3,600-tonne coaster breaking up on the rocks. And the Dart and Salcombe crews are astonished to be paged to the biggest shout of their lives.

When a climber falls in a remote cave on the Gower Peninsula, the Mumbles crew are called in to search and rescue. In Portreath, lifeguards battle to save a teenager who is determined to surf despite red flag warnings. And on the Isle of Wight, the Yarmouth crew must locate a man in the water amongst over a thousand boats competing in the Round the Island Race.

The Aberystwyth crew must improvise when a local paraglider crash-lands at the bottom of steep cliffs. When an adventurous seal is discovered on the steps of a block of flats, Redcars newest recruit is first on the scene. And in Minehead, a challenging rescue forces an inexperienced crew member to consider her future.

When an early morning dog walker spots a flare off shore, the Rhyl crew race to one of the most mysterious shouts they have seen. The Lowestoft crew find themselves paged to help to a sailor who doesnt want to be rescued. And at Tower, a good samaritan is clinging on for his life after trying to rescue a dog which has jumped into the Thames.

As storm Ophelia hits the British Isles, on the south east coast of Ireland the pagers of the Rosslare crew go off - a small yacht with three people on board is caught in one of the worst storms in living memory. In Devon, the crew at Appledore race an incoming tide to try and reach a man stuck fast in quicksand, while on the north coast of Cornwall the crew of St Agnes must battle through huge breaking waves to reach two young boys being swept out to sea in a deadly rip current.

The volunteers of the RNLI race to save a sinking schooner and a walker with a broken leg, while cries for help in the early hours of the morning lead to an eerie night-time search.

The RNLI volunteers race against time to try and save three people in the water in the Bristol Channel, a father and son trapped against a cliff face and a badly injured sailor.

The RNLI volunteers face a search in one of the worst storms in living memory, race to save three people caught in a rip current and two men stuck on an oil rigs anchor chain.

In Porthcawl, the volunteers of the RNLI race to save a surfer at the mercy of Storm Brendan. Meanwhile, in Selsey, a familys day out for a spot of paddleboarding goes badly awry when the father becomes separated from his young children, leaving them stranded on a rapidly dwindling sandbank.

The lifeboat volunteers pluck a fallen climber out of the sea in Wales and is within seconds of falling unconscious. Meanwhile in Scotland, a team rescue a 170-ton fishing boat that is perilously close to the rocks in gale force winds, and in Minehead, three kayakers are swept out to sea as darkness falls.

In Trearddur Bay, the RNLI crew battle through gale force winds and huge waves as they try to save a surfer, as their worried families watch on from the shore. On the same stretch of Welsh coast, the Llandudno and Rhyl lifeboats are involved in a desperate search for a fishing vessel thats reported missing.

Whenever the crew’s pager sounds, they know they must prepare for all eventualities. At Beachy Head, the Eastbourne crew have to deal with a base jumper’s disastrous takeoff. Just along the Sussex coast in Newhaven, a man faces a race against time as he suffers a seizure on board a tall ship. At Loch Ness, a World War II sea plane runs into mechanical trouble. And in Rhyl, a dog chasing seagulls into the sea bites off more than she can chew.

In Portrush, Co Antrim, the crew race to rescue a boy who has got into difficulties after jumping off rocks, and one of the crew volunteers enters the water to save him. On the Pembrokeshire coast, the lifeguard team at Whitesands Beach join forces with the St David lifeboat crew to rescue someone who has been found unconscious in the water

In Swanage, the lifeboat crew work hand in hand with the specialist coastguard rope team to help an injured climber.

On Ireland’s north west coast, the RNLI crew at Bundoran race to the rescue of a teenage girl who has been swept out to sea.

In Eastbourne, on the Sussex coast, a routine day at the lifeboat station changes in an instant when a boat catches fire just outside the harbour.

In Thurso, Scotland’s most northerly mainland station, the crew race to the rescue of an ocean-going rower who has run into trouble 40 miles out to sea.

In Baltimore, south west Ireland, the crew are called out to reports of a solo sailor clinging onto his upturned catamaran over 70 miles out to sea.

In Whitby, North Yorkshire, the RNLI crew race to the rescue of two fossil hunters who are cut off by the tide - and soon find that they too are in grave danger.

In north Wales, the Conwy crew respond to reports of two people - including a young boy - who have been caught out by the tide and are now struggling to stay afloat.

In Torbay, Devon, a yacht has sent out a mayday, meaning the lives of the six crew on board are in grave and imminent danger. In Wales, the Aberystwyth crew race to the rescue of a small boat that has lost engine power and is drifting perilously close to the rocks at the end of the harbour wall. In Dover, the crew launch their Severn-class lifeboat, after reports that a small boat - with 30 people on board - has capsized in the English Channel. On the north east coast of England, in Cleethorpes, a man is cut off by the tide in a notorious trouble spot. And on the Sussex coast, the Eastbourne crew respond to an unusual call out: a deer in the water...

On the north eastern tip of the Scottish mainland, the crew at Wick begin a frantic search to find a paddleboarder who has drifted a mile out to sea, while her family wait anxiously on the shore. Further south, the Fraserburgh crew respond to a mayday call from a trawler that has run aground with four fishermen on board. In Mudeford, on the Dorset coast, the crew race to the rescue of a small inflatable boat that’s struggling to make it back to harbour in 40mph winds. On the Kent coast, a bystander has reported a capsized catamaran a mile out to sea. And in Rhyl, a Christmas Day call out to a person in the water leads to an unexpected discovery.

On the Isle of Wight, the Bembridge crew face a race against time to save an old fishing trawler that’s become trapped on a submarine barrier, and is now taking on water. Just across the island, the Cowes crew embark on a night time search for a missing jet skier. In Anstruther, on the east coast of Scotland, a man is badly injured after falling into the harbour just a few hundred feet from the station. And on the Welsh coast, the St Davids crew work with the local coastguard team to rescue two people who are stuck on a cliff.

In Dungeness, the crew are called out to reports of a small boat in the middle of the shipping lanes, and they discover that the casualty is the subject of a major manhunt.

In Castletownbere, crew member Donagh faces a baptism of fire on his first ever shout as the crew carry out a dramatic rescue of a fisherman who’s suffered a suspected stroke.

In Humber, the crew must work closely together to pull off the dangerous medivac of a fisherman with a spinal injury.

In Mudeford, on the Dorset coast, a search for a missing kayaker quickly escalates when it emerges that there are six more kayaks unaccounted for.

In Porthcawl, on the south-west coast of Wales, the crew receive a call about a swimmer who’s been swept out to sea in a rip current - as his wife and son watch on helplessly.