Small boat crossings reached their highest level of the year on Wednesday. Home Office figures show 781 people reached the UK aboard 10 vessels in a single day.
That is the largest daily total since 20 December 2025, when 803 people arrived. It is still well short of the record of 1,305 crossings set on 3 September 2022.
Yearly total still down sharply
Despite the spike, overall Channel crossings in 2026 remain well below last year's level. So far, 18,565 people have made the journey, compared with 32,188 at the same point in 2025, a fall of roughly 42%.
The government said its progress on the issue was beyond dispute but added that it needed to go further to shut down the smuggling networks behind the crossings.
The boat spent more than 33 hours at sea.
Wednesday's total includes a dinghy carrying 51 people that set off from Normandy on Monday morning. That launch point is far west of the usual departure beaches, and the boat spent more than 33 hours at sea before arriving.
The surge followed a quieter stretch. There were no crossings at all for five days, then around 150 people arrived in three boats on both Monday and Tuesday.
Crossings tend to rise in warmer months and calmer seas, with June to September usually the busiest period. The English Channel is one of the most dangerous and congested shipping routes in the world.
Man dies near Boulogne-sur-Mer.
On Thursday, French authorities reported that a man had died after suffering a cardiac arrest as people tried to board a boat on a beach south of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Review ordered after undetected landings
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has ordered officials to review what happened after two migrant boats came ashore near Folkestone without being intercepted on consecutive days.
Most small boat passengers are picked up at sea by Border Force or rescue crews, so uncontrolled beach landings are rare. Monday's landing was the first in over a year, and only four have been recorded since the Home Office began tracking them in 2023. Mahmood said such landings were not acceptable.
How the parties reacted
The figures prompted criticism from across the opposition:
Conservatives: Shadow home secretary Chris Philp dismissed Labour's pledge to "smash the gangs" as a failure. He said only removing everyone who arrives illegally would end the crossings, and that his party had a plan to do so.
Liberal Democrats: Home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson urged the government to join the EU's migration and asylum pact. He warned that until it does, smugglers will keep finding routes, lives will stay at risk, and public money will be wasted.
Reform UK: Leader Nigel Farage said his party would use the Royal Navy to stop the boats.
