A man has died after getting into difficulty in the sea off Frinton, Essex Police said.
Police said they were called shortly before 2.10pm on Thursday 30 July, after reports a man had got into difficulty in the sea off The Esplanade and had been brought ashore.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said the man’s family have been informed and are being supported by officers.
The public has been asked to avoid the area.
The news comes as the UK has endured its fourth heatwave of the summer, with temperatures topping 35C, as health authorities warned England is on track this year for the highest number of deaths caused by such hot spells since current figures began.
Half of England is officially in drought, despite a very wet winter, as an extremely dry July compounded a dry spring, and the successive heatwaves have put pressure on water resources.
Earlier on Thursday it was confirmed that England is on track this year for the highest number of deaths caused by heatwaves since current figures began.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it “is likely that 2026 could see the highest number of heat-associated deaths on record”, surpassing the number in 2022 when the agency started studying them.
An estimated 753 deaths were associated with the heatwave that ran from May 24-27, with a further 2,124 deaths linked to the heatwave between June 21 and 28.
The total of 2,877 deaths is almost double the 1,504 deaths linked to heatwaves in June to August last year.
The new report does not break the deaths down by age, though a report from UKHSA on the 2025 figures found those aged 85 and over had the highest number of heat-associated deaths, and there were significant deaths in those aged 75 to 84.
“While these (2026) figures remain interim, they are already approaching the annual record reported by UKHSA in 2022,” the report said.
Some 2,985 heat-associated deaths were observed across the five heatwaves of 2022, a year that had the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK, when 40.3C was reached in Coningsby in Lincolnshire on July 19.
This year has seen both May and June break Met Office monthly temperature records for the UK, with 31.5C recorded at Kew Gardens on May 26 and 38.0C recorded at Lingwood, Norfolk on June 26.
