The number of people crossing the English Channel in small boats has passed 27,000 this year, GB News can reveal, as around a thousand more crossed on Sunday.
Border Force vessels and RNLI lifeboats have been busy responding to continuous sightings of small boats since early Sunday morning.
One boat even made it to the beach near the Kent town of Folkestone.Locals watched as the boat came ashore on the pebble beach and at least 40people onboard scrambled out.
Migrants are seen arriving at the beach in Folkestone.
Credit: Pratheesh Sekharan
A group of more than a dozen were seen running off the beach and disappearing out of view.
So far, there is no word on whether they have been found yet by Border Force.Today's mass arrivals follow another busy day for small boat activity on Saturday.
Official figures released by the Ministry of Defence show that 960 were detected in the Channel crossing on 20 small boats yesterday.
GB News analysis of the latest arrivals on Saturday and Sunday reveal that more than 27,300 people have made it to the UK so far this year on almost 700 small boats.
A group of migrants arrive in Folkestone.
Credit: Pratheesh Sekharan
Weather conditions in the Channel had been poor for most of last week, preventing any small boat crossings since Saturday 27 August, when 915 people arrived on 19 boats.
The weather improved enough on Friday for people smugglers to successfully launch five inflatables toward the UK.
They were picked up by British authorities as they crossed into UK waters and 221 people were taken to the migrant processing centre at Dover harbour.
Yesterday, the first small boats were spotted by Border Force before first light.The Border Force catamaran Defender brought more than 80 people, recovered from two small boats, into Dover harbour around 5:30am.
August saw the biggest monthly arrival of Channel migrants since the small boat crisis began more than four years ago.8,644 were taken off 189 inflatables in August, including 1,295 on 22 August, the biggest daily total on record.
28,526 people crossed the Channel in whole of last year.The latest arrivals mean 2021's whole year total is just over a thousand away from being passed.