Rescues by lifeguards for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) more than doubled last year, mostly due to better weather and more people staying in the UK for holidays, the group said. The RNLI helped save more than 36,000 people in 2025, compared to 17,000 in 2024. The lifeboat charity branched out in 2001, when it started patrolling beaches in Bournemouth, Weymouth and Cornwall, and now patrols over 245 beaches across the UK and Channel Islands - making it the largest lifeguard service provider in the UK. It said its lifeguards had saved 2,165 lives since then and helped almost 500,000 people through water rescue, returning lost children and delivering first aid and casualty care. "RNLI lifeguard statistics vary each year depending on the weather. Last year, with the bulk of summer being reasonably good, a lot of people went to the beach," RNLI Lifeguard General Manager, Peter Dawes, told the BBC. "The other variation that comes into play is a broader economic one.…