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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Anahita Hossein-Pour

Migrants arrive in UK wearing blankets after crossing English Channel

A Border Force vessel arrives in Dover (Gareth Fuller/PA) - (PA Wire)

Migrants wrapped in blankets have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in wintry conditions.

Pictures show people in lifejackets and warm layers disembarking from a Border Force boat in Dover, Kent on Monday.

It is the third consecutive day of crossings, after Home Office figures recorded 455 people arriving over the weekend.

People are taken to the Border Force compound in Dover (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

Some 317 people made the journey in five boats on Saturday, and 138 arrived in two boats on Sunday.

This brings the total for the year so far to 658, which is 26% below the same point last year of 890 arrivals, but 6% higher than 621 recorded to date in 2024.

Home Office figures show 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK in 2025 after crossing the English Channel – the second highest annual figure on record.

The all-time high was recorded in 2022, of 45,774 arrivals.

Data on Channel crossings was first published in 2018.

The first crossings of 2026 took place on January 5, when 32 people made the journey in one boat in bitterly cold temperatures.

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