Jelly Watch website helps to spot jelly fish on Riviera

WATCH out, watch out there's a jelly fish about drifting through the waters off the Mediterranean coast.

And the Jelly Watch website has been launched to help warn swimmers in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region to get advanced notice of the purple coloured, stinging Pelagia noctiluca.

Stinging jelly fish have become more of a problem on the Mediterranean coast in recent years and the website will display a rating going from zero (no risk) to five (maximum alert), it has been funded by the local region and the European Union.

The Jelly Watch website uses a Google map to help you locate recent observations of the jelly fish, and you can narrow down your search to individual stretches of coast.

There is also an email alert service letting you register to receive notifications, and you can send in your own observations to help others.

Along some beaches in the area close on 500 people a day have been stung, with Pelagia noctiluca causing a rash that can last a few days and even prompt allergic reactions.