Small boat crossings resume after longest pause in migrants arriving for seven years

The UK has recorded the longest period without migrants arriving on small boats crossing the Channel for seven years, official figures show.

Before this weekend, no one had completed the perilous crossing for 28 days, since 14 November, according to the latest Home Office data.

No migrants were recorded arriving in the country up to and including 12 December – marking the longest uninterrupted run since autumn 2018.

A number of small boats were seen in the Channel on Saturday, breaking the long pause. Official figures for those arrivals will be released later.

December is traditionally one of the quietest months for Channel crossings, with a combination of low temperatures, poor visibility, less daylight and stormy weather making the journey particularly difficult.

The most arrivals ever recorded in December were 3,254 in 2024.

This year looks likely to see the second-highest annual number of migrants arriving in small boats since data was first reported in 2018. The all-time high is 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

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The total for 2025 currently stands at 39,292, which is already more than in any other year except 2022, but would require 6,483 arrivals between now and the end of December to set a new record.

The latest pause is the longest spell without arrivals since the 48-day gap from 2 September to 19 October 2018.

The government has stepped up efforts in recent months to deter migrants from making the dangerous journey across the Channel, but the measures are not expected to have an impact until next year.

David Lammy, the deputy prime minister, met on Wednesday with ministers from member states signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), who all agreed to consider reforming the treaty and tackling illegal migration within the existing legal framework.

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The move to work with European counterparts over Article 3 of the ECHR – the protection against torture and inhuman treatment – follows asylum reforms announced by Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, last month, in a bid to also make it easier to deport people from the country.

Ms Mahmood also confirmed changes will be brought forward seeking to make refugee status in the UK temporary, subject to reviews every 30 months, and to send refugees home if their country is deemed safe.

Meanwhile, the government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act became law earlier this month, which allows law enforcement agencies to use counterterror-style powers to crack down on people-smuggling gangs.