Is the sea water quality good in North Yorkshire?

North Yorkshire has a Gera Bathing Water Score of 80/100 (3 of 9 rated sites Excellent, 2 Poor) for the 2025 season. A GBWS of 80 reflects a combination of current classification (weighted 60%) and multi-season consistency across all assessed seasons, up to six from 2019–2025 (weighted 40%). This is an above-average score.

What does the Gera Bathing Water Score mean?

The Gera Bathing Water Score (GBWS) combines two components from Environment Agency rBWD annual compliance classifications (key-free open data, OGL v3.0): (1) latest classification score (Excellent=100, Good=75, Sufficient=50, Poor=25), weighted 0.6; and (2) pass-rate across every assessed season available for the site (up to six: 2019, 2021–2025; the proportion rated Sufficient or above), weighted 0.4. Formula: GBWS = round(0.6 × latest_score + 0.4 × pass_rate × 100). Sites with fewer than 3 assessed seasons are shown as 'insufficient data'. The 2020 bathing season was cancelled due to COVID-19 and is excluded. LA-level scores are the mean GBWS of all sites within the LA that have sufficient data. Source: EA BWQ API, seasons 2019, 2021–2025.

How are North Yorkshire bathing waters classified?

The Environment Agency classifies each designated bathing water under the Revised Bathing Water Directive (rBWD): Excellent, Good, Sufficient, or Poor, based on 4 seasons of E. coli and intestinal enterococci samples. North Yorkshire has 10 designated site(s). Annual classifications are published on the EA's Bathing Water Quality platform.

When is the bathing season?

The official bathing season in England runs from mid-May to the end of September each year. The EA monitors water quality weekly during the season. Outside the season, monitoring is not required and advisories may not be current.

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North Yorkshire — Bathing Water Quality 2025

Gera Bathing Water Score: 80/100

What is the bathing water quality in North Yorkshire?

North Yorkshire has a Gera Bathing Water Score of 80/100 for the 2025 bathing season, based on 9 EA-rated sites: 3 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Sufficient, 2 Poor. Source: Environment Agency Bathing Water Quality API (OGL v3.0). Gera re-dates this annually.

Source:Environment Agency — Bathing Water Quality API·as of bathing season 2025 (latest completed season)updated annually (last: 20 June 2026)

Gera Bathing Water Score80 / 100Ranked 56 of 68 local authorities. 3 Excellent, 2 Poor (2025 season).How this index is calculated

Bathing water sites in North Yorkshire

EA bathing water classifications — North Yorkshire, 2025 season
Site	Type	2025 rating	GBWS	Seasons
Cayton Bay	Coastal	Excellent	100/100	6
Sandsend	Coastal	Excellent	100/100	6
Whitby	Coastal	Excellent	100/100	6
Filey	Coastal	Good	85/100	6
Reighton	Coastal	Good	85/100	6
Runswick Bay	Coastal	Good	85/100	6
Robin Hoods Bay	Coastal	Sufficient	70/100	6
Scarborough North Bay	Coastal	Sufficient	70/100	6
Scarborough South Bay	Coastal	Poor	22/100	6

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80/100

GBWS

Gera Bathing Water Score

56 / 68

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designated bathing waters

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Good

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North Yorkshire bathing water — FAQ

Is the sea water quality good in North Yorkshire?: North Yorkshire has a Gera Bathing Water Score of 80/100 (3 of 9 rated sites Excellent, 2 Poor) for the 2025 season. A GBWS of 80 reflects a combination of current classification (weighted 60%) and multi-season consistency across all assessed seasons, up to six from 2019–2025 (weighted 40%). This is an above-average score.
What does the Gera Bathing Water Score mean?: The Gera Bathing Water Score (GBWS) combines two components from Environment Agency rBWD annual compliance classifications (key-free open data, OGL v3.0): (1) latest classification score (Excellent=100, Good=75, Sufficient=50, Poor=25), weighted 0.6; and (2) pass-rate across every assessed season available for the site (up to six: 2019, 2021–2025; the proportion rated Sufficient or above), weighted 0.4. Formula: GBWS = round(0.6 × latest_score + 0.4 × pass_rate × 100). Sites with fewer than 3 assessed seasons are shown as 'insufficient data'. The 2020 bathing season was cancelled due to COVID-19 and is excluded. LA-level scores are the mean GBWS of all sites within the LA that have sufficient data. Source: EA BWQ API, seasons 2019, 2021–2025.
How are North Yorkshire bathing waters classified?: The Environment Agency classifies each designated bathing water under the Revised Bathing Water Directive (rBWD): Excellent, Good, Sufficient, or Poor, based on 4 seasons of E. coli and intestinal enterococci samples. North Yorkshire has 10 designated site(s). Annual classifications are published on the EA's Bathing Water Quality platform.
When is the bathing season?: The official bathing season in England runs from mid-May to the end of September each year. The EA monitors water quality weekly during the season. Outside the season, monitoring is not required and advisories may not be current.

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Contains public sector information published by Environment Agency and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Environment Agency — Bathing Water Quality API (bathing season 2025 (latest completed season), published 2026 (annual publication)).