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England · Hastings

St Leonards

Yes. Excellent water quality and no sewage 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

Annual classification
Excellent (positive factor)
Pollution risk forecast
Normal (positive factor)
Rainfall (24h)
0mm (positive factor)
Latest E. coli
45 cfu/100ml (positive factor)
Latest intestinal enterococci
27 cfu/100ml (positive factor)

Latest bacteria reading

Latest sample · 25 August 2026 · 7 days ago

E. coli
45cfu/100ml
Intestinal enterococci
27cfu/100ml

The regulator samples weekly during the bathing season. E. coli and intestinal enterococci are the indicator organisms used in the official classification.

Sewage spills, 2023 to 2025

The Environment Agency links 7 storm overflows to St Leonards. In 2025 they discharged 123 times.

Counted spills a year at the overflows feeding this bathing water.

Down 48% since 2023, from 236 spills to 123.

Counting every monitored overflow within ten kilometres instead, whether or not it drains here, gives 545 spills across 38 overflows in 2025.

Common questions

Can you swim at St Leonards?
Yes. Excellent water quality and no sewage in the last 48 hours. St Leonards 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 St Leonards?
St Leonards is rated Excellent in the regulator's latest annual classification, a percentile taken over readings from up to four bathing seasons. The most recent sample, taken 25 August 2026, showed 45 cfu/100ml of E. coli and 27 cfu/100ml of intestinal enterococci.
Has there been sewage at St Leonards recently?
No. No storm overflow within ten kilometres of St Leonards 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

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Gareth Clubb