Kent lifeboats crews have been working extra hard since lockdown eased, with a spokesman saying "it went bananas".

Today it was revealed that the Coastguard had its busiest day ever yesterday, with 340 incidents nationwide.

Margate's station had three calls between Friday and Saturday, while Sheerness' team attended two incidents.

The county's lifeboat crews have echoed that, noting that the numbers have risen sharply since lockdown was eased in late May.

Whitstable's station had its busiest June in a decade, and has reported 42 call-outs since April 16.

Over the last 10 years, Whitstable has had a 12-month average of 48 call-outs.

Vic Booth, of the Sheerness RNLI station, said: "As soon as lockdown The last fortnight has been very, very busy and most of the incidents could have been avoided.

"We've had boats or engines breaking down - which is down to servicing - and we've got the usual inflatables floating away from the beach."

Other incidents have included a 54-year-old paddleboarder who hadn't been to the Isle of Sheppey before, finding herself "half a mile out to sea in no time at all".

"As soon as the restrictions were lifted things went bananas..."

Another incident saw two men on a kayak which began deflating, with one man becoming very ill. Mr Booth said: "If the tide hadn't been favourable and we hadn't got there when we did, we might have found two bodies instead".

Lifeboat crews around the country have been stunned by the sudden change from lockdown UK to beach-crazed Britain.

Mr Booth added: "Whilst lockdown was on, we didn't have a single emergency call-out in those 10 weeks.

"As soon as the restrictions were lifted things went bananas.

"We're one of the busiest stations in the country with an average of over 100 call-outs in a year.

"We're on track to go beyond that even with the three month lockdown."

He put the sudden rise in people wanting to get out of the home, coupled with the great weather.

Particularly over the last three days, temperatures have soared and Manston was named one of the UK's sunniest locations for Friday.

In Whitstable five incidents have been attended to by the crew since Friday.

The station's spokesman, Chris Davey, said: "Although the beaches in the vicintiy have been as busy as any of the crew can remember, thankfully there's been no problems launching.

The RNLI spoke to KMTV about the dangers of the sea ahead of the heatwave

"Almost all of the call-outs this year have been inflatable beach toys, jet-skis and yachts of varying sizes."

The RNLI website urges people not to use inflatables at the beach, a warning renewed after the Whitstable lifeboat came to the aid of two children and an adult in a dinghy a mile off Leysdown beach.

For more tips on staying safe at the beach, visit the RNLI's dedicated webpage.

For all the forecasts, warnings and weather related news, click here.

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