England · Torbay
Paignton Preston Sands
Yes. Rated Excellent and no sewage discharged nearby in the last 48 hours.
Water quality only This says nothing about tides, rip currents, cold water shock or lifeguard cover. Cold water and currents are dangerous even when the water is clean. Read the local signs before you go in. What we cannot tell you.
Checked UK time
Why this verdict
- Bathing season
- Closed until 15 May (neutral factor)
- Annual classification
- Excellent (positive factor)
- Pollution risk forecast
- Normal (positive factor)
- Rainfall (24h)
- 0mm (positive factor)
- Latest E. coli
- 27 cfu/100ml (positive factor)
- Latest intestinal enterococci
- 36 cfu/100ml (positive factor)
Out of season
Weekly sampling and the daily pollution-risk forecast pause on 30 September and resume on 15 May. This verdict rests on the annual classification, live storm-overflow data and rainfall in the last 24 hours.
Storm overflows are driven by rain, so they spill more in autumn and winter than in summer. See every spill happening now across the UK.
Water temperature
18.0°C Mild
Sea surface, modelled by Open-Meteo.
Tide
Tide is rising
- High water Today
- Low water Today
- High water Today
- Low water Tomorrow
Modelled by Open-Meteo and approximate. Checked against tide gauges these times ran up to half an hour early, so treat them as a guide to whether the water is coming in or going out, not as a tide table. For exact times see Admiralty EasyTide.
Latest bacteria reading
Latest sample · 18 September 2026 · 13 days ago
- E. coli
- 27cfu/100ml
- Intestinal enterococci
- 36cfu/100ml
This is the most recent reading. Sampling resumes on 15 May. E. coli and intestinal enterococci are the indicator organisms used in the official classification.
Classification record, 2015 to 2025
Rated Good in 2015 and Excellent in 2025.
The regulator republishes this every November as a percentile over readings from up to four bathing seasons, so it describes the water's record rather than today. No classification was made for 2020, when the pandemic cut the bathing season short.
Sewage spills, 2022 to 2025
The Environment Agency links 2 storm overflows to Paignton Preston Sands. In 2025 they discharged 31 times.
Up 107% since 2022, from 15 spills to 31.
Counting every monitored overflow within ten kilometres instead, whether or not it drains here, gives 1,997 spills across 75 overflows in 2025.
Common questions
- Can you swim at Paignton Preston Sands?
- Yes. Rated Excellent and no sewage discharged nearby in the last 48 hours. Paignton Preston Sands is a designated bathing water, so it is sampled and rated every season. This answer covers water quality only, not tides, currents or lifeguard cover.
- What is the water quality like at Paignton Preston Sands?
- Paignton Preston Sands is rated Excellent in the regulator's 2025 annual classification, a percentile taken over readings from up to four bathing seasons. The most recent sample, taken 18 September 2026, showed 27 cfu/100ml of E. coli and 36 cfu/100ml of intestinal enterococci.
- Has there been sewage at Paignton Preston Sands recently?
- No. No storm overflow within ten kilometres of Paignton Preston Sands has discharged in the last 48 hours.
Where this data comes from
- Contains Environment Agency information © Environment Agency and database right
- Spill counts from the Environment Agency EDM Storm Overflow Annual Returns, 2021 to 2025, published annually.
- View the regulator's full profile
Other beaches nearby
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Gareth Clubb