All Blue Flag and Seaside Award winners including North East winners
King Edward’s Bay near Tynemouth(Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
Stretches of coastline across Britain are clearly in tip top shape for summer – as the Blue Flag and Seaside Awards 2026 reveals. As previously reported, Keep Britain Tidy has announced that 61 beaches have earned Blue Flag status and 106 receive Seaside Awards, with 41 sites achieving both accolades – and North Tyneside favourites plus a beach in Sunderland are among them.
King Edward’s Bay, Tynemouth Longsands and Whitley Bay have all retained their Blue Flag and Seaside Awards for 2026, along with Roker beach: singling them all out as being among the nation’s – and world’s – finest, as they meet the awards’ high standards for cleanliness, safety, environmental management and visitor facilities. Blyth South Beach in Northumberland was also awarded a Blue Flag.
The Blue Flag is described as an international symbol of excellence, being the world’s most-recognised award for beaches, marinas and inland bathing waters, while the Seaside Award is a recognition of a clean, healthy and safe environment for everyone to enjoy. Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said of the hard-won and well-deserved awards: “Everybody involved in these achievements should feel proud of their ongoing work to care for and enhance these important local blue spaces.”
Tynemouth Longsands
The awards good news for the region comes at the same time as a stretch of coast in Northumberland also receives some national attention. As previously reported, a separate announcement sees Little Shore, at Amble, officially designated by the Environment Agency as one of 13 new outdoor bathing sites opening across the country.
As the weather improves and our coastal areas prepare to welcome hordes of visitors over the summer, the Blue Flag and Seaside Award successes will be welcome news for all. Here is a round-up of all the areas around the UK which have earned the Keep Britain Tidy awards for 2026.
North East – Blue Flags and Seaside AwardsBlue Flag AwardWhitley Bay SouthTynemouth Longsands SouthKing Edwards BayBlyth South BeachRoker BeachSeaside AwardSeaton Carew CentreRedcar Lifeboat StationSaltburn BeachWhitley Bay SouthTynemouth Longsands SouthKing Edwards BaySeaburn BeachRoker BeachSandhavenNorth West – Seaside AwardsSt Annes PierMorecambe South BeachNorth Beach, MorecambeFleetwood Ferry Beach (non-bathing water)Fleetwood Marine BeachRossall Beach (non-bathing water)Jubilee Beach, CleveleysYorkshire and the Humber – Blue Flags and SeasideBlue Flag AwardsSeaside AwardsBridlington NorthBridlington SouthCayton BayFileyRunswick BayRobin Hoods BaySandsendScarborough North BayWhitbyWilsthorpeEast Midlands – Blue FlagsCentral Beach, MablethorpeCentral Beach, SkegnessCentral Beach, Sutton on SeaRutland Water Sykes Lane, Oakham (plus Seaside Award)East of England – Blue Flags and SeasideBlue Flag AwardAlbion Walton On The NazeBrightlingseaCromerDovercourt BayEast RuntonFelixstoweFrinton on SeaMundesleySea PallingSheringhamShoebury CommonSouthwoldThorpe Bay BeachThree Shells BeachWest RuntonSeaside AwardAlbion Walton On The NazeBrightlingseaChalkwell BeachDovercourt BayEast Beach, ShoeburynessFelixstoweFrinton on SeaHarwich (non-bathing water)Hunstanton MainJubilee BeachKessingland Beach (non-bathing water)Leigh Bell Wharf BeachLowestoft beachMartello BayThe Naze (non-bathing water)Shoebury CommonSouthwoldThorpe Bay BeachThree Shells BeachWestcliff BaySouth East – Blue Flags and SeasideBlue Flag AwardBotany BayHove LawnsJoss BayMarina Beach HastingsMinnis BayRamsgate Main SandsRottingdeanSaltdeanSheernessTankertonWest Wittering BeachSeaside AwardBexhill on SeaBognor Regis EastBotany BayBrighton CentralCamber SandsHastings PelhamHerne Bay CentralHove LawnsJoss BayLeysdownLittlehampton CoastguardsLouisa Bay (non-bathing water)Margate Main SandsMarina Beach HastingsMinnis BayMinster LeasRamsgate Main SandsRottingdeanSaltdeanSandown BeachSheernessSt Mildred’s BayStone BayTankertonViking BayWalpole BayWest BayWestbrook BayWest Wittering BeachSouth West – Blue Flags and SeasideBlue Flag AwardBlackpool SandsCanford CliffsCarbis BayChallaborough BayCrookletsCroyde BayDawlish WarrenDurley ChineExmouthFisherman’s WalkGyllyngvaseHighcliffePolzeathPorthmeorPorthminsterPorthtowanSandbanksShore RoadSidmouth TownSummerleazeSwanage Central BeachTrevone BayWestward Ho!Widemouth BaySeaside AwardAvon BeachBlackpool SandsBoscombe PierBournemouth PierBudleigh Salterton -Canford CliffsCarbis BayChallaborough BayCoryton CoveCrackington HavenCroyde BeachDawlish TownDurley ChineExmouthFisherman’s WalkGreat WesternGyllyngvaseHighcliffeNess CovePorthPortreathSandbanksSennen CoveShore RoadSidmouth TownSidmouth Jacob’s LadderSwanage Central BeachTeignmouth TownWestward Ho!Weymouth Beach Central
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