The beaches of the United Kingdom are exceptionally popular and with these 10 facts, it's easy to see why!

1. There are an impressive 150 beaches in the UK with a blue flag or quality coast classification; guaranteeing cleanliness, great facilities and safety. There are 13 beaches with blue flag status in Pembrokeshire alone. Britain contains some of the cleanest, safest and most spectacular beaches anywhere in the world.

2. Our coastline is one of the most accessible in the world; wherever you live in the UK, you will be less than 2 hours drive from the coast. Few other countries can boast such ease of access. The furthest you can be from the sea is reckoned to be 73 miles, if you happen to live in Coton in the elms, Derbyshire!

3. The coastline of the UK is very long compared to other similarly sized countries; for example, our coastline is 3 and a half times longer than the coastline of Spain and 5 times longer than the coastline of France. Why head to Europe for sun kissed, golden beaches when they can all be found in the uk?

4. There have, historically, been up to 200 million day trips to the coast in a single year. That works out at more than 3 visits to the coast for every person in the UK. Needless to say, the beaches of the UK are hugely popular among the British population.

5. The UK contains some of the best beaches in the world for learning to surf; from Caswell Bay on the Gower Peninsula, to Sennen Cove in Cornwall. A popular surfing website lists a total of 47 beaches in the UK suitable for surfing. Furthermore, there are a number of excellent surf schools situated throughout the UK, from surf's up, to the Quiksilver surf school.

6. The annual earnings from services at UK beaches over a year total up to a whopping 8 billion pounds. Figures from the tourism industry also indicate a 13% increase in spending by holiday makers between 2008-2009.

7. There are now 3 times the number of clean beaches in the UK than there were 25 years ago; and the figure continues to improve, through the hard work of the marine conservation society and other volunteer organisations. Water cleanliness continues to improve, as well as safety measures at beaches all over the UK.

8. Torbay and the Isle Of Wight reputedly have the best beaches in the UK, each being presented with 14 awards this year.

9. Blackpool Pleasure Beach is not only the most popular beach resort in the UK; it is also the UK's most popular attraction, nationwide, attracting 5.7 million visitors last year, beating the Tate Modern, with 800,000 visitors, into second place.

10. The UK's beaches are some of the best places to see amazing wildlife. A wide variety of birds, fish and even seals can be seen at numerous beaches around the UK's coastline. In addition to this, over 1500km of coastline in England and Wales has been designated as heritage coastline; that is, an area with notable natural beauty of scientific interest.