British tourist drowns in Italian holiday hotspot after boat is swept away

A British tourist has drowned while on holiday at a popular hotspot in Italy after the boat he was on was swept away in high winds.

The unnamed man, 22, was with his 19-year-old girlfriend and they rented a boat in Varenna, on the eastern shore of Lake Como.

The pair were sailing towards the town of Menaggio, when they stopped to go swimming.

The couple got into difficulty about four miles from shore and were unable to reach land due to sudden strong winds.

The duo became separated and lost sight of each other, with the woman being rescued by a passing cruiser.

She was taken back to shore in “shock but unharmed”, Corriere della Sera reports.

Emergency services launched a search of the area to find the missing man, believed to be a student from Liverpool.

That included a team of rescue divers and two helicopters, with the Briton’s lifeless body recovered on Wednesday.

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According to the local police, it was found “without any signs of life, floating in the search area”.

The Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Italy and are in contact with the local authorities.”

This comes as another British tourist died while on holiday abroad, this time in Turkey.

Sophie Runkee, 34, and her partner JJ Warner from Hull had taken their children on a summer holiday ahead of Warner undergoing cancer treatment.

However, their dream holiday became a nightmare after Sophie’s lifeless body was found on the balcony of their hotel apartment.

Warner said she had fallen unconscious after a night out and choked.