Red flares seen on the Menai Strait means a late night for Beaumaris volunteers.
At 11.00 pm on Tuesday 31 March 2026 the volunteer crew members of the Beaumaris lifeboat received a request from H.M. Coastguard to investigate a report from a yacht that red flares had been seen above the Menai Strait.
The Beaumaris Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Annette Mary Liddington with her volunteer crew launched and having spoken to the crew the yacht proceeded to commence a search of the area between Bangor pier and Gallows Point.
In addition to the volunteer lifeboat crew searching on the water, the mobile coastguard units from Bangor and Penmon commenced a land-based search on both sides of the Menai Strait.
When the search failed to identify anyone in trouble and after further consultation with the originator of the report the coastguard suspected that it might have been a drone or a light on top of a mast situated on the mainland that had been seen.
In view of this updated information the coastguard instructed both the lifeboat and the coastguard units to return to their respective stations. The lifeboat returned at 12.20 am on the 1 April 2026 to her station at Beaumaris to be refuelled and cleaned. Once this had been completed the crew left the station at 1.00 am.
A RNLI spokesman said: ‘This was a call made with all good intent, and it is better for us to launch and not be required than for someone to be in danger with no assistance on the way to help them.’
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