Where can you swim in the UK?

The map shows water-quality classifications from the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency — the three statutory regulators for designated bathing waters in mainland Britain. Where water companies publish near‑real‑time sewage discharge data, the map shows that too.

Coverage is uneven. Of 177 spots flagged as currently safe and 267 flagged for caution, the confident answers come only from regions where we have both regulator classifications and live water-company data. The remaining 8 spots have a regulator classification but no live discharge data, and are shown as monitored — no current concerns: a softer signal than safe.

Many places people actually swim — wild swimming spots, urban rivers, lakes — are not designated bathing waters and are not on this map. The Thames is not a designated bathing water along most of its length; Henley swimmers are not regulator‑monitored. Adding those is a future phase. Read the methodology.