England · Environment Agency
Littlehaven Beach
Avoid swimming
Active sewage discharge from CSO AT MANHOLE 49 HOWDEN ROAD (1 active event within 5km, Northumbrian Water).
High confidence — an active discharge is being reported right now — the event itself is fresh evidence.
Status computed 5 Nov 2026, 00:43 UTC; statuses refresh every 15 minutes.
What we know
- Regulator classification
- Poor
- Pollution risk forecast
- Normal (forecast expired)
- Active discharges
- 1 within 5km right now
- Recent discharges (last 48 hours)
- 1 within 5km
- Upstream river network
- None reported affecting this spot’s river reaches
- Surrounding overflow coverage
- Within an ingested water company network
- Monitoring season
- Currently in regulator monitoring season
Last sampled 24 September 2026 · 6 weeks ago. Source: Environment Agency.
Forecast expired 2 Oct 2026, 08:29 UTC — outside its 24-hour validity window. Source: Environment Agency.
CSO AT MANHOLE 49 HOWDEN ROAD (Northumbrian Water) — started 3 Nov 2026, 09:19 UTC.
Most recent at CSO AT MANHOLE 49 HOWDEN ROAD (Northumbrian Water) — ended 3 Nov 2026, 08:53 UTC.
Discharges traced through the river network by sewage-map.
Water body baseline
The Environment Agency classifies this water body (TYNE) as Moderate ecological status (2022 classification). That is a Water Framework Directive assessment of long-term ecosystem health — plants, invertebrates, fish, chemistry — not a bacteriological measure of whether the water is safe to swim in today. It is shown as context and plays no part in the verdict above.
The EA’s Catchment Data Explorer page for this water body →
Source: EA Catchment Data Explorer, Open Government Licence v3.0 — data as of 21 Aug 2026, 10:40 UTC.
What this verdict means
Avoid swimming is driven by the strongest negative signals this map tracks: an active sewage discharge affecting this water, or a regulator classification of Poor or a closure. After a discharge ends, waiting at least 48 hours before swimming is the standard advice.
Every verdict here is computed from regulator classifications, sample dates, pollution-risk forecasts, and water-company discharge reports — it is not a water test. Absence of a negative signal is not positive confirmation of safety, and conditions on the day (rainfall, currents, cold) matter as much as water quality. Read how statuses are decided.