Two people and dog rescued from stranded car on Lindisfarne causeway

Seahouses RNLI was scrambled at 2.23pm on Saturday October 31 after a request from the Coastguard following a report of a car with two occupants and a dog, trapped by the tide on Holy Island Causeway.

Volunteers launched the Seahouses Inshore Lifeboat. The fire service and ambulance were also attending the incident.

A spokesman for Seahouses RNLI said: “Due to the weather conditions, and increasing wind speed, the Inshore Lifeboat was taken by road to the causeway, and launched there.

"The occupants of the car, who were wet and cold, were transferred to the Inshore Lifeboat and landed safely on the mainland side.

"The fire service personnel then transported them to Beal services, to get warmed and dried, while arrangements were made to recover their vehicle when the tide receded.

"The Lifeboat was then returned to station. Apparently an occupant of the car had misread or misunderstood the safe crossing times.”

High tide at Holy Island was 2.41pm, and safe crossing times were from 5.50am until 12.30pm, and from 6.10pm until 12.40am on Sunday, the RNLI said, adding the ‘casualty vehicle’ had attempted to cross close to high tide.

It is the latest of a number of similar incidents on the causeway.

The RNLI launched an awareness campaign in 2019, and plans were set out to improve the warning and signage systems – including to ensure drivers from overseas could better understand crossing times.

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