British man, 41, drowns after getting swept out to sea by strong current on Portuguese beach

• British tourist got into difficulty when he went for a swim at beach near Lisbon 

A British man has drowned after he was swept out to sea by strong currents at a Portuguese beach. 

The tourist, 41, got into difficulty when he went for a swim at Sao Pedro de Moel beach near the town of Nazare, north of Lisbon. 

A surfer went to his after seeing he was being dragged further out to sea by the strong currents. But despite best efforts to revive the Briton, he was pronounced dead at the scene.  

A Dutch national believed to be around the same age, who had been with the Briton and a group of friends, was taken to hospital after getting into difficulties himself. He was able to get out of the water without help.

The tragedy occurred around 3pm on Wednesday at Sao Pedro de Moel beach, which has become famous for the giant waves that hit its coast every year from October to February and attract surfers and spectators from all over the world.

A British man has drowned after he was swept out to sea by strong currents at a Portuguese beach (file image of the beach at Nazare, Portugal) 

Local maritime police chief Joao Lourenco said a 41-year-old foreign man had died after ‘being swept away by currents’ at the beach, before the Portugal’s National Maritime Agency confirmed the victim’s nationality as British. 

The agency said in a statement: ‘A British man aged 41 died on Wednesday afternoon after getting into difficulties at Sao Pedro de Moel beach.

‘There was no lifeguard service at the beach at that time.’

Lourenco said another man of about the same age had been taken to Santo Andre Hospital in the city of Leiria as a precaution.

Local reports said the Briton, who has not been named, was part of a group of recovering addicts who were being treated at a nearby drug addiction clinic and made regular trips to the beach as part of their therapy.

MailOnline has contacted the UK Foreign Office for comment.  

At the weekend the Portuguese Federation of Lifeguards (FEPONS) warned of the ‘high risk of drowning’ given the high temperatures and the end of assistance to bathers on most beaches.

It also revealed 60 people drowned in the first six months of the year – less than the same period last year when there were 68 deaths but higher than the average of the last six years.

The tourist, 41, got into difficulty when he went for a swim at Sao Pedro de Moel beach near the town of Nazare, north of Lisbon

In January a British teenager drowned after being caught up in a rip current while swimming with friends on a Portuguese beach.

The 19-year-old and two pals got into difficulties during a dip off a small sandy beach on the Costa da Caparica coastline south of Lisbon.

Two of the three people, all thought to be Brits, had managed to get out by the time help arrived and a search was launched for the third which ended with his body being discovered on neighbouring Tarquinio-Paraiso Beach.

In June 2021 British financial consultant Trevor Pelling, 45, drowned while trying to save his two daughters they got into difficulties while trying to save his two daughters aged 12 and nine at Calada Beach north of Lisbon.

The girls were later taken to Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon for a medical examination and a psychologist was provided to assist the grief-stricken youngsters and their mum.

In October 2019 yoga teacher Kim Fletcher, 33, and her former hip hop musician fiance Danny Johnson, 34, died at Zambujeira do Mar in the south-west of Portugal.

Danny swam out to try to save his partner as she got carried away by a dangerous rip tide, but they drowned after he reached her and tried to get her back to the shoreline.

The couple, from Stoke-on-Trent, had a four-year-old daughter called Aveyja and also cared for Kim’s 15-year-old girl Maicee from a previous relationship.

In July this year a British tourist drowned at his Algarve hotel pool. The hotel where the incident involving the 27-year-old holidaymaker occurred was named locally at the time as the Paraiso Hotel in the popular resort of Albufeira.

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