One man has been confirmed dead amid a major search and rescue operation for people who got into difficulty in the sea off the Yorkshire coast, Humberside police have confirmed.

Officials were first alerted to reports of people in trouble near Withernsea at 3.10pm on Friday.

Searches are ongoing, but it is not clear how many people remain in the water. Earlier, HM Coastguard said it was looking for two people.

HM Coastguard said it had deployed a search and rescue helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft to the scene on England's east coast.

The rescue operation has also called in local coastguard and RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) rescue teams, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, an air ambulance, Humberside Police and Humberside Fire and Rescue.

A statement from Humberside Fire said: "We're currently attending an incident in Withernsea.

"There are emergency service vehicles around the Central Promenade area. Please avoid this area if possible and take extra care as emergency vehicles are moving in the area."

Temperatures in the seaside town are forecast to drop to freezing overnight.

Earlier, East Riding of Yorkshire council confirmed a severe weather protocol was in place due to the cold.

Hornsea Inshore Rescue, a local independent group of volunteers, earlier said the treacherous conditions had stopped it from launching.

"Called out, unable to launch the lifeboat due to horrendous conditions and 3 metre waves breaking on our slipway which would knock the tractor and trailer sideways off the ramp," it said in a statement on social media this afternoon.

In a post yesterday, the group said it had called off a New Year's Day public swim because "the sea conditions were just not suitable today for us to condone anyone entering the water".

Yesterday in Brighton a 51-year-old man died after getting into difficulty in the water.