LIFEBOAT volunteers battled three-metre waves in gale-force winds after being called out to a series of emergencies on the seas during Storm Francis.

A crew was called out to investigate after a small fishing boat was discovered adrift 20 nautical miles off the Dorset coast with no-one aboard.

The small vessel had been spotted adrift in rough seas late in the afternoon on Tuesday.

A Swanage RNLI lifeboat spokesman said: “The crew strapped into their seats anticipating a rough ride, plotted a route and headed around Peveril Point.

“The shock-absorbing seats on the all-weather lifeboat did their job well and a little over 30 minutes later the lifeboat arrived on scene.

“Conditions were challenging, but several close passes by the small casualty boat indicated that it had broken from a mooring and drifted out to sea.”

It was too stormy to tow the boat to safety and was left to drift while the crew returned to their station at about 7.30pm – four hours after the initial launch.

Their information was passed to the UK coastguard, along with accurate position and drift details.

The incident was one of a number that lifeboat volunteers were called to during gale-force winds which swept the county with Storm Francis.

Earlier in the day a crew rescued three paddleboarders that were drifting out to sea.

Multiple 999 calls were made by people on Knoll Beach in Studland about 3.30pm on Tuesday after three paddleboarders were seen drifting out in strong winds.

The Swanage all-weather lifeboat was launched and a training lifeboat which was also in the area assisted.

The crew on the training lifeboat found and recovered two paddleboards and three people from the water.

The casualties were cold but otherwise unharmed and were taken on board the Swanage lifeboat and taken to shore where they were met by Swanage coastguards.

RNLI volunteers and members of the Wyke Coastguard rescue team also spent hours searching for a casualty after a red flare was spotted off Portland.

The Coastguard was first sent out to reports of the flare at 8.19am on Tuesday but found nothing.

The all-weather RNLI lifeboat from Weymouth was then launched during the torrential conditions, with 60mph winds and three-metre waves.

An extensive search was carried out over six miles, covering an area from Portland Bill to Langton Herring but with nothing found by 2pm the lifeboat was released and returned to station.

On Sunday, a Lyme Regis RNLI lifeguard was alerted to a boy having a seizure in the water whilst bodyboarding.

The boy was pulled out of the water and onto the beach where he was given oxygen and put into the recovery position. He was initially unresponsive but later stabilised.