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More than 800 people crossed the English Channel in small boats – believed to be a record number for a day in December.
The latest official figures showed 803 people made the perilous journey in 13 dinghies from northern France yesterday. It brought the total number of Channel crossings for 2025 to 41,455 people, the second highest since data collection began in 2018, surpassed only by 2022’s record of 45,774.
Saturday saw the largest number of people to have made the journey in a single day since 8 October, when 1,075 crossed.
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The total number of Channel crossings for 2025 now stands at 41,455 people (PA Wire)
Some 2,163 people have arrived so far this month, closing in on the record 3,254 reported last December.
A Border Force vessel could be seen on Saturday morning bringing people thought to be migrants into Dover after an incident in the Channel.
It followed a busy night, in which a large number of boats were witnessed leaving the shores of France.
French police clashed with people attempting to launch a small boat near Calais early on Saturday morning.
Video showed gendarmerie volleying tear gas into a crowd of some 30 migrants on a riverbank in the town of Grand-Fort-Philippe.
The unexpected spike follows a four-week lull in which the Home Office recorded no crossings between 15 November and 12 December.
December is traditionally one of the quietest months for attempts due to adverse weather conditions.
But that pause had marked the longest uninterrupted stretch without arrivals since 2018.
Wider trends show that arrivals climbed in the first 10 months of this year, while remaining below the record levels reported in 2022.
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Small boat crossings rose through 2025, but still fell short of the 2022 record (file) (PA Wire)
The Labour government has ramped up efforts to tackle small boat arrivals through collaboration with European countries.
France agreed to start intercepting small boats in the Channel after months of pressure from the UK.
A policy shift means security forces will be able to stop boats at sea but only before they have picked up passengers.
Germany this week passed a new law which could see people smugglers face up to 10 years in prison for trying to bring migrants to the UK.
The law change, which will come into force before the end of the year, aims to give more powers to law enforcement and prosecutors, and boost information sharing between the UK and Germany.