Hundreds go naked for skinny dip in freezing North Sea

The North East Skinny Dip celebrates the first official day of autumn, also know as the autumn equinox, as well as raising money for charity.

Hundreds of people stripped naked and dived into the freezing North Sea for what's thought to be Britain's biggest skinny dip this morning.

The North East Skinny Dip celebrates the first official day of autumn, also know as the autumn equinox, as well as raising money for charity.

This year the event welcomed the most participants ever in its five-year history as more than 400 people gathered at Druridge Bay, in Northumberland, at 5.30am.

Organiser Jax Higginson, from Sunderland, who came up with the idea after attending a similar event in Wales, told Chronicle Live : “We always have a positive response.

“People do it one year then come back again and again. We’ve grown every year so far - people come back with a friend.”

Jax added the idea behind doing it at dawn is to run towards a rising sun “celebrating the summer and welcoming the winter”.

Ellen Headingly, 45, did the dip last year after her friends persuaded her and came back again to experience it again.

“I didn’t want to do it last year, it isn’t something I ever thought I would enjoy at all,” she said.

“But I managed to do it in 2015 and absolutely loved it, it was very peaceful and liberating.

“It’s quite a strong experience and I wanted to come back and do it again.”

She added that today's rainy weather hadn’t spoilt the experience for her, either.

“It was quite clear and sunny last year - we could see the sun rising quite clearly and that hasn’t happened this year,” she said.

“It was a different atmosphere last year too. The sea was far, far calmer and it was a lot more peaceful and quiet. Because of the clear skies it was far chillier last year.”

Each participant registers and pays a fee of £12 before the event, which gets donated to charity.

Jax estimates about 400 people signed up to the dip, meaning nearly £5,000 has been raised.

Last year, 350 people completed the challenge and before that around 180. The event has raised more than £12,000 for mental health charity MIND since it began in 2012.

The world's biggest skinny dip was held in Perth, Australia, in March 2015 when 786 people stripped down at South Beach to celebrate positive body image.

Check these photos after the cut...