A group of beachgoers formed a human chain to help someone who had come into trouble at sea.
Footage shows people slowly edging into the water in a line to try and reach the swimmer at Durdle Door, which sits on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.
A man breaks off from the group and makes a dive for it, while the others wait lined up nearby.
“There was a chain of people stretching to the sea as much as they dared,” Jenny Bell, who was on the beach at the time, told the BBC.
“Eventually the person managed to surf a wave and somebody managed to grab him.”
Lulworth Coastguard Rescue Team said a “shocking image” was shared to a local social media group on Thursday afternoon, which showed people forming a human chain to rescue someone in the water at Durdle Door.
“Apparently, two were in difficulty at one point, the first casualty and the rescuer,” they wrote on Facebook in a caption next to an image of the incident.
“We were pleased to hear that they were both recovered and were able to walk away.”
Storm Ellen brought strong winds to parts of the UK earlier this week.
The Met Office said the storm had cleared on Thursday – which they said was an ”unseasonably windy” day which saw ”some intense rain”.
Gusts of up to 70mph buffeted parts of the southwest of England and Wales on Friday in the wake of the storm, causing the RNLI and HM Coastguard to urge members of the public to be cautious in coastal areas.
A man died in Cornwall on Thursday after getting into difficulty out at sea, Devon and Cornwall Police said.
Speaking about the incident at Durdle Door, Lulworth Coastguard Rescue Team said: “With the large waves and spring tides of late, we strongly discourage sea swimming and playing around in the surf, especially on exposed beaches such as Durdle Door.”
They added: “The undertow is very powerful and will have no trouble taking you off your feet.”
Additional reporting by Press Association
