Thousands of Portuguese Man O'War are washing up on UK beaches

'They are not supposed to be here' 

Ben Kentish 

British beaches are being invaded by swarms of deadly Portuguese Man O'War.

Thousands of the species have washed up on shores on the south coast as a result of extreme weather and a series of hurricanes in the Atlantic, according to The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) which said the infestation was the biggest since 2003.

While their stings are not usually deadly, they can prove fatal in some circumstances.

Swimmers have been told to wear full body suits and parents are being advised to exercise “extreme caution” with children playing on beaches.

The creatures are usually found in warmer waters and in the open ocean but have reached the UK in greater numbers than usual this year. In an average year, 1000 to 1500 sightings of Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish are reported on British shores but more than 2000 have been spotted in the UK already this year. There were also above-average numbers of sightings in 2009 and 2012.

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Man-of-war spotted along coast in Cornwall and Wales

12 September 2017

Large numbers of potentially fatal Portuguese man-of-war have washed up on a Cornish beach, prompting its closure.

RNLI lifeguards erected do not swim red flags at Perranporth beach earlier because of the "unusually large number" of the creatures.

The jellyfish-like organisms, which have long purple tentacles, have also been seen in Wales this month, says the Marine Conservation Society (MCS).

With mild sea temperatures of 16C there were fears of swimmers being stung.

The RNLI said it placed red flags at Perranporth beach between 10:00 and 13:30 BST to signal that the water was out of bounds, while lifeguards took advice on the level of danger to beachgoers.

More on the man-of-war sightings and other stories from Cornwall

Man-of-war were spotted at Newgale, Pembrokeshire, on 8 September and the next day on beaches near the holiday destination of Newquay.

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