Out at sea, minutes and even seconds can make the difference between life and death. On the south coast of Devon, the crew of Salcombe lifeboat station are called to two of the highest level of emergencies at sea - a mayday call to a fisherman pulled to the bottom of the sea ensnared in his own fishing gear and a devastating fire on a boat 15 miles out in the Channel. Over 200 miles away in the wa...

From first timers at sea to salty old skippers, the wrong conditions can catch anyone off their guard leaving them in need of rescuing. On the east coast of Ireland, the crew of Courtown's inshore lifeboat face one of their most challenging shouts ever - in deep water they must keep a teenage girl with suspected spinal injuries immobile and afloat for 40 minutes, knowing any movement could leave h...

Keeping watch over the River Thames, the crew at Tower in central London, the busiest of the RNLI's 238 stations, are called to a man reported in the water eight miles downstream. On arrival, they discover a river bus already on the scene and their crew desperately trying to hang on to the unmoving man before he disappears under the water. At one of the most remote stations, Trearddur Bay on Angle...

In Brighton the crew are called out to what they think is just a routine job - towing a yacht that has lost power back to harbour - but a sudden spring squall and mountainous waves leave the crew fighting to save the yacht and themselves from being dashed on the shore. Off the east coast of Ireland, the crew of the small fishing village of Howth respond to an emergency call from a family on a loca...

In Torbay in Devon the seas are often crowded with sailing craft of all shapes and sizes – when two collide the Torbay lifeboat crew are called out to provide emergency medical assistance for a potentially life-changing injury. On the south coast of Wales, the Porthcawl crew have just seconds to spare when two teenagers on holiday get caught on a rocky outcrop by a large swell and a rising spring ...

There are many reasons why the thousands of yellow-wellied volunteers first joined up, but they all share a common desire to help those in trouble. At Anstruther station in Scotland, one of their newest helms, George, takes charge for his first shout to a serious medical evacuation. A woman has slipped on one of the most notorious parts of the station's patch, the Chain Walk, where walkers have to...

On the north coast of Kent, new crew member Ruth is on board for one of her first ever shouts. Off the Essex coast, the crew of West Mersea station launch to reports of a life raft in the North Sea. 10 miles along the coast at Clacton the crew get a call in the middle of the night to look for two people in the sea.

For the thousands of volunteers who guard our seas and waterways, saving other people can mean making sacrifices in their own lives. Volunteer and doctor Adam makes a 500-mile round trip every time he puts in a shift at Tower Lifeboat Station in the heart of London, but his medical skills prove invaluable when the crew are called to help the police try and save a man who is stuck under a pier on t...

As storm Ophelia hits the British Isles, on the south east coast of Ireland the pagers of the Rosslare crew go off - a small yacht with three people on board is caught in one of the worst storms in living memory. In Devon, the crew at Appledore race an incoming tide to try and reach a man stuck fast in quicksand, while on the north coast of Cornwall the crew of St Agnes must battle through huge br...

Off the packed beach at Blackpool, the crew race after a teenage girl being swept out to sea on an inflatable dinghy. While on the miles of long sandy beaches at Rhyl in north Wales, amongst the holidaying crowds two girls get caught in a deadly current while swimming just a few metres from shore. And on the Cornish coast a woman, trying out the extreme sport of coasteering for the very first time...