What should you do if you're caught in a rip current?

A rip current is the sea's quiet trick: a stretch of water that looks calm and inviting, and is in fact flowing out to sea. Knowing what one looks like and what to do if one takes you is the kind of knowledge we hope you never need and are glad to have. This is a summary of official advice in our own words; follow the lifeguards, signs and local rules wherever you swim.

What a rip current is

The Met Office describes rips as strong currents running out to sea that can quickly carry swimmers from the shallows into deeper water. The US National Ocean Service calls them powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water. Two points from that guidance matter most:

• A rip pulls you out, not under. It moves you away from the beach; it does not drag you down.
• The danger is panic and exhaustion. According to the Met Office, drownings in rips are usually down to panic and tiredness, often from fighting the current.

How to spot one

Rips are hard to see, even for experienced swimmers. The Met Office lists these signs:

• a channel of churning, choppy water,
• a line of debris or foam on the surface moving out to sea,
• a patch of calm-looking water with no breaking waves, between areas where waves are breaking.

That last one is the cruel twist: the calmest-looking gap in the surf can be the rip. HM Coastguard adds that rips are often found near river mouths, estuaries, piers and groynes.

If a rip takes you

In the words of the official guidance, summarised:

1. Stay calm. You are being moved, not pulled under. Take a breath.
2. If you can stand, wade, don't swim.
3. Keep hold of your board or inflatable if you have one; it will help you float.
4. Raise your hand and shout for help.
5. Don't swim directly against the current. It will tire you out.
6. Swim parallel to the beach until you are free of the pull, then head for shore. The National Ocean Service gives the same advice: swim along the shore, then angle back towards land.

If you cannot swim out of it, floating is your friend. The Royal Life Saving Society UK's Water Safety Code advises that if you fall in or get tired, you should stay calm, lie back and float while you call for help.

If you see someone else caught

• Do not go in after them. The RLSS UK code is clear that you should not enter the water to rescue someone.
• Alert the lifeguards, or in the UK call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard. Elsewhere, call the local emergency number.
• Throw them something that floats, if you can reach them safely from the shore.
• Keep your eyes on them and point them out to rescuers.

Avoiding rips in the first place

• Choose a lifeguarded beach and swim between the red and yellow flags, which mark the area lifeguards are watching. Our guide to beach flags explains the colours.
• Ask the lifeguards about conditions before you go in.
• Don't swim alone, and don't swim after drinking; Brighton & Hove City Council's seafront advice is not to enter the water if you have been drinking alcohol.
• Take care with inflatables and boards. The Met Office warns paddlers about offshore winds, which blow away from the shore.
• Be honest about waves. If the surf is big, our guide to swimming in waves is the place to start, and sometimes the right answer is a walk along the beach and an ice cream instead.