Nearly 300 migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats in the past 24 hours – pushing the 2026 total past 5,000 as calm weather leads to more crossings.
Nearly 300 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats over the past 24 hours (Image: Getty)
Nearly 300 migrants have reportedly crossed the English Channel in small boats over the past 24 hours, pushing the 2026 total beyond 5,000.
Accordinlg to reports, around 140 arrived on Tuesday as improving weather opened a window for crossings. A further 150 were understood to have made the journey on Wednesday, with conditions expected to remain calm until Thursday afternoon and more boats anticipated before the weather turns.
Two vessels were allegedly forced back earlier on Wednesday after their engines gave out.
Border Security Command reportedly deployed new ships for a second consecutive day in response to multiple sightings. The BSC vessel Courageous made port at Dover shortly after 5pm on Tuesday, one of several new craft now operating in the strait. Observers on the ground recorded 65 migrants disembarking at the new Border Security Command processing facility in Dover.
The replacement vessels are bigger versions of the catamarans that Border Force previously had on station. The future of the older fleet — which includes Tiger, Typhoon and Hurricane — has yet to be confirmed.
Record day last week
The latest crossings follow one of the busiest days on record, reports GB News. More than 325 migrants reached British shores last week across five separate boats — the first successful crossings since March 23 — after the Express reported on how two people died attempting the journey.
Emergency services on the French side mounted operations involving 111 people spread across a series of separate incidents. Eight individuals were brought to safety near Gravelines, close to Calais — though two died before they could be reached in time.
Prior to that surge, Mahmood had gone public with her failure to pin down a fresh beach patrol agreement with Paris that would have reduced the number of launches from the French coast.
New deal signed
Mahmood subsequently signed a two-month extension to the existing arrangement — at a cost of £2 million a week — hours before the near-£500 million deal was due to expire.
The extension, worth £16.2 million in UK government funding, keeps operational contracts in place while both countries negotiate a longer-term agreement.
A spokesperson said Mahmood was “driving a hard bargain” with Paris, “getting more bang for our buck.”