Cold water shock billed as one of the biggest hidden dangers of summer

We're diving deeper into the dangers of open water to prevent any further deaths across Staffordshire and Cheshire

Reservoir
Author: Adam SmithPublished 25th Jun 2021

We're diving deeper into the dangers of open water as we reveal one child a week dies from drowning in the UK.

Safety experts say so-called 'cold water shock' can kick in within minutes when the water's 15 degrees celcius or lower.

That's pretty much the temperature of ALL rivers, lakes, and reservoirs in Britain during the summer.

Earlier this month a man from Newcastle tragically lost his life after reportedly getting into difficulty in the lake at Silverdale Country Park, a popular destination for many including cyclists, runners and dog walkers.

Matthew Upton looks after reservoirs across Cheshire for United Utilities, he said they’re dealing with more instances of people entering open water every day, with many doing so to swim.

"Unfortunately we do on a daily basis see people coming into the reservoirs to swim." he said.

"It's really setting a bad example to everybody. There should be no swimming in those reservoirs at all and yet we are seeing this increase unfortunately.

"I've been in this role that I'm in now for four years and in those four years I've seen three deaths in the reservoirs that I look after."

"It's absolutely devastating, it's tragic, clearly for the families it's absolutely tragic, but for our own staff and for us as well having to witness these kinds of incidences that are occurring there...it's just something that we shouldn't see."

Matthew said a lot of people presume they won't get into difficulty: "They are fit able individuals, particularly men, and unfortunately the cold water in particular shocks the system to the extent that they can't swim. They get into difficulty and unfortunately end up drowning."

Use #GetWaterWise to follow our campaign.