Scores of barmy bathers braved the cold weather to take a plunge in the North Sea on Boxing Day.
People of all ages, many in fancy dress, took part in the annual swim at Tynemouth Longsands beach on Thursday.
One man was dressed as a Christmas tree, another as a whoopee cushion, and several bathers wore elf costumes, Santa hats and onesies when they ran into the water, which had a temperature of around 5C.
The event helped to raise funds for the North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards (NSVL) , a charity that provides lifesaving training.
Paul Fairley, 39, of Westerhope, who wore a Christmas tree fancy dress, said: "This is the first time I'm taking part. I usually work on Boxing Day but, for the first time in about 10 years, I am off and I decided to do this as a bit of fun.
"The atmosphere is brilliant and it's great to see so many people out."
Helen Nisbet, 49, of Whitley Bay , was among six members of her family taking part in the dip.
She said: "I have recently started open water swimming and I thought this would be a good fun thing to do.
"It's also for a good cause. We have two children who take part in NSVL activities and we wanted to support the charity."
Paul Guy, 44, and his daughter Emma, 15, of North Shields, came in onesies.
Paul said: "This is the first time we are doing it. It's just a bit of fun and the atmosphere is great."
Also in the group were student Katherine Renshaw, 18, and her aunt Liz Keller, 47, of Gosforth.
Katherine said: "I did this once before, two years ago, and I decided to do it again. It's a really good way to shake Christmas Day off.
"When you go into the cold water, you get that first gasp reaction but you gradually start to acclimatise. You get an adrenaline rush."
Julie Rogers, who chairs the NSVL club, said the Boxing Day dip was the main fundraising event for the group and helped to raise cash for their activities.
She added: "I'm taking part in the dip myself. It's always great to see so many people coming along."
The Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade and Red Seal Rescue helped to provide safety cover for the event.
A number of other Boxing Day swims were also held across the region including ones in South Shields, Sunderland, Seaham and Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
