A MAN has died after being rescued off the coast at West Mersea.

The West Mersea lifeboat was launched at around 11.30am to a man in need of aid just off the beach.

The man, aged in his 60s and from Colchester, was rescued from the sea but died while being taken to hospital by the Coastguard’s rescue helicopter.

The Met Office had issued a yellow warning for East Anglia on Saturday with gusts of wind expected to reach up to 50 miles an hour.

Friday marked the annual Mersea Island Regatta but the late night firework display had to be called off due to the weather conditions.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “The man, aged in his 60s from Colchester was rescued from the sea by the coastguard and sadly died while being taken to Colchester Hospital by air ambulance.

“Police were contacted at 12.45pm this afternoon, Saturday, August 20. He is believed to have been windsurfing.

“Next of kin have been contacted and police enquiries continue to establish the events leading up to the man’s death.”

His death comes on the same day as similar tragedies in Aberdeen, leaving a young boy and his mother dead, and in Cornwall where a man died after his family were swept into the sea.