England · City of Portsmouth
Southsea East
No. Sewage discharged 4.9km away 3 hours ago.
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)
- Recent sewage discharge
- 4.9km away, 3 hours ago (negative factor)
- Annual classification
- Poor (negative factor)
- Pollution risk forecast
- Normal (positive factor)
- Rainfall (24h)
- 0mm (positive factor)
- Latest E. coli
- 10 cfu/100ml (positive factor)
- Latest intestinal enterococci
- 10 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
18.9°C Mild
Sea surface, modelled by Open-Meteo.
Tide
Tide is falling
- Low water Today
- High water Today
- Low water Today
- High 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.
Recent sewage discharges nearby
Storm overflows operated by Southern Water within ten kilometres in the last 48 hours.
- Ended yesterdaySWS00664 · into PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR2.1km from the bathing water
- Ended yesterdaySWS00566 · into PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR3.9km from the bathing water
- Ended yesterdaySWS00376 · into PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR4.6km from the bathing water
- Ended yesterdaySWS00608 · into PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR4.6km from the bathing water
- Ended 3 hours agoSWS00374 · into PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR4.9km from the bathing water
- Ended yesterdaySWS00416 · into SOLENT5.2km from the bathing water
- Ended yesterdaySWS00206 · into LANGSTONE HARBOUR6.5km from the bathing water
- Ended yesterdaySWS00483 · into BROOM CHANNEL6.9km from the bathing water
- Ended yesterdaySWS00211 · into PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR7.6km from the bathing water
- Ended yesterdaySWS00945 · into PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR7.9km from the bathing water
- Ended yesterdaySWS00937 · into SOLENT8.2km from the bathing water
See Southern Water's own storm-overflow map(opens in a new tab) →
Latest bacteria reading
Latest sample · 21 September 2026 · 10 days ago
- E. coli
- 10cfu/100ml
- Intestinal enterococci
- 10cfu/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 Poor 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, 2021 to 2025
The Environment Agency links 25 storm overflows to Southsea East. In 2025 they discharged 264 times.
Down 19% since 2021, from 324 spills to 264.
Counting every monitored overflow within ten kilometres instead, whether or not it drains here, gives 640 spills across 67 overflows in 2025.
Common questions
- Can you swim at Southsea East?
- No. Sewage discharged 4.9km away 3 hours ago. Southsea East 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 Southsea East?
- Southsea East is rated Poor in the regulator's 2025 annual classification, a percentile taken over readings from up to four bathing seasons. The most recent sample, taken 21 September 2026, showed 10 cfu/100ml of E. coli and 10 cfu/100ml of intestinal enterococci.
- Has there been sewage at Southsea East recently?
- Yes. 11 storm overflows within ten kilometres of Southsea East: 11 in the last 48 hours.
Where this data comes from
- Contains Environment Agency information © Environment Agency and database right
- Contains water-company storm overflow data, licensed under OGL v3
- 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