Small-boat arrivals hit 2026 daily high as 781 cross Channel
A total of 781 people arrived in the UK in 10 small boats on Wednesday, the highest single-day figure recorded so far this year, Home Office data show.
The arrivals bring the number of people who have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year to 18,565. That is 42% lower than the same point in 2025, when 32,188 had made the journey.
The government said its “progress this year in tackling small boats is indisputable” but added that it needed to “push further and harder in order to eradicate this vile trade.”
The latest numbers are likely to keep immigration enforcement under intense political scrutiny in the UK, where successive governments have promised to curb irregular arrivals while critics argue that the dangerous route remains difficult to shut down.
Man dies during boarding attempt
French authorities said on Thursday that a man had died after suffering a cardiac arrest as people tried to board a vessel at a beach south of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Wednesday’s figures included a dinghy carrying 51 people that left Normandy on Monday morning, much farther west than small boats typically depart, and spent more than 33 hours at sea.
About 150 people crossed from France in three small boats on each of Monday and Tuesday. Those crossings followed five days with no arrivals at all.
Wednesday’s total was the highest daily figure since 803 people arrived on 20 December 2025. The highest single-day total in recent years came on 3 September 2022, when 1,305 people crossed.
Political battle over Channel crossings
Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell said earlier that the government had “significantly reduced” the number of people arriving on small boat crossings after “a huge amount of work.”
“If we had a switch that we could switch tomorrow to stop all small boats we would switch it,” she told BBC Radio Kent. She said the government was taking steps to reduce arrivals, including providing extra resources and new legislation.
Powell, a cabinet minister, told the BBC there was no “switch” to stop the crossings. “I know that people want this to happen faster,” she said. “We are taking those steps, it is working.”
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.”
Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson said the government should “tackle the root cause by entering the EU’s landmark migration and asylum pact.” Until it did so, he said, people smugglers would “continue to find a way through, lives will be put at risk and taxpayers’ money will be wasted.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said his party would “deploy the Royal Navy and stop the boats.”
Beach landings prompt review
On Tuesday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood ordered officials to conduct a review after two migrant vessels in as many days made it ashore near Folkestone undetected.
Small boat passengers are usually brought to shore by Border Force officials or rescue boats, and uncontrolled arrivals are rare. Mahmood said the beach landings were “not acceptable.”
The landing on Monday was the first in more than a year and only four have been recorded since the Home Office began keeping data in 2023.
Why crossings rise and fall
Crossings are more common during warmer weather and when sea conditions are calmer, with the highest monthly totals typically occurring between June and September. The English Channel is one of the most dangerous and busiest shipping lanes in the world.
Additional reporting by PA Media. Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, X and Instagram and listen to BBC Radio Kent on Sounds. Send story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp 08081 002250.