781 Migrants Arrive in Small Boats in 2026 Record

A total of 781 migrants arrived in 10 small boats on Wednesday, the highest number for a single day so far this year, Home Office figures show.

So far this year 18,565 people have made the Channel crossing, which is 42% lower than the same period in 2025 when 32,188 had crossed in small boats.

The government said its “progress this year in tackling small boats is indisputable” but it needed to “push further and harder in order to eradicate this vile trade”.

French authorities reported on Thursday that a man had died after having a cardiac arrest while people attempted to board a vessel at a beach south of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Wednesday’s figures include a dinghy carrying 51 people which departed from Normandy, much further west than small boats typically set off, on Monday morning and spent more than 33 hours at sea.

About 150 people crossed from France in three small boats on both Monday and Tuesday. This followed five days with no crossings at all.

Wednesday’s figure was the highest daily total since 803 people arrived on 20 December 2025.

The highest total in one day in recent years was on 3 September 2022, when 1,305 migrants made the crossing.

Crossings are more common during warmer weather and when there are calmer sea conditions, with the highest monthly totals typically between June and September.

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Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “Keir Starmer’s pledge to ‘smash the gangs’ was always a farce and open-borders Burnham has learnt absolutely nothing from his predecessor.

“The only way to stop the crossings is to deport all illegal immigrants on arrival, and only the Conservatives have a plan to do that.”

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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said his party would “deploy the Royal Navy and stop the boats”.

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