Can you swim at Walney Biggar Bank?

No. Sewage discharged 3.7km away 8 hours ago. Walney Biggar Bank 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 Walney Biggar Bank?

Walney Biggar Bank is rated Sufficient in the regulator's 2025 annual classification, a percentile taken over readings from up to four bathing seasons. That is down from Good the season before. The most recent sample, taken 23 September 2026, showed 18 cfu/100ml of E. coli and 10 cfu/100ml of intestinal enterococci.

Has there been sewage at Walney Biggar Bank recently?

Yes. 9 storm overflows within ten kilometres of Walney Biggar Bank: 9 in the last 48 hours.

← All bathing waters

England · Westmorland and Furness

Friday 2 October

Walney Biggar Bank

No. Sewage discharged 3.7km away 8 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 06:09 UK time

Why this verdict

Bathing season: Closed until 15 May (neutral factor)
Recent sewage discharge: 3.7km away, 8 hours ago (negative factor)
Annual classification: Sufficient (neutral factor)
Pollution risk forecast: Normal (positive factor)
Rainfall (24h): 2mm (positive factor)
Latest E. coli: 18 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

15.9°C Cool

Sea surface, modelled by Open-Meteo.

Tide

Tide is falling

Low water about 09:20 Today
High water about 15:00 Today
Low water about 21:50 Today
High water about 03:30 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 United Utilities within ten kilometres in the last 48 hours.

Ended 2 days ago

UUP00900 · into Walney Channel

1.7km from the bathing water
Ended 22 hours ago

UUP00832 · into Walney Channel

2.3km from the bathing water
Ended 2 days ago

UUP00761 · into Mill Beck/Cavendish Dock

3.7km from the bathing water
Ended 8 hours ago

UUP00090 · into Ormsgill Reservoir

3.7km from the bathing water
Ended 7 hours ago

UUP00068 · into Mill Beck

4.6km from the bathing water
Ended 2 days ago

UUP00025 · into Mill Beck

4.6km from the bathing water
Ended 8 hours ago

UUP00918 · into Mill Beck

4.6km from the bathing water
Ended 8 hours ago

UUP00976 · into Mill Beck

4.6km from the bathing water
Ended 23 hours ago

UUP01781 · into Sarah Beck

6.9km from the bathing water

See United Utilities's own storm-overflow map(opens in a new tab) →

See every spill happening now across the UK →

Latest bacteria reading

Latest sample · 23 September 2026 · 8 days ago

E. coli: 18cfu/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 Sufficient 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, 2025

The Environment Agency links 19 storm overflows to Walney Biggar Bank. In 2025 they discharged 975 times.

Counting every monitored overflow within ten kilometres instead, whether or not it drains here, gives 1,355 spills across 35 overflows in 2025.

See the worst beaches for sewage in Westmorland and Furness →

Common questions

Can you swim at Walney Biggar Bank?: No. Sewage discharged 3.7km away 8 hours ago. Walney Biggar Bank 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 Walney Biggar Bank?: Walney Biggar Bank is rated Sufficient in the regulator's 2025 annual classification, a percentile taken over readings from up to four bathing seasons. That is down from Good the season before. The most recent sample, taken 23 September 2026, showed 18 cfu/100ml of E. coli and 10 cfu/100ml of intestinal enterococci.
Has there been sewage at Walney Biggar Bank recently?: Yes. 9 storm overflows within ten kilometres of Walney Biggar Bank: 9 in the last 48 hours.

Where this data comes from

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

Rated Good Walney Sandy Gap Westmorland and Furness Rated Sufficient Walney West Shore Westmorland and Furness Rated Poor Haverigg Cumberland Rated Excellent Silecroft Cumberland

Cleanest beaches in Westmorland and Furness →

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Gareth Clubb