Almost 3,000 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel so far this year, the highest level for this point in the year since the crisis began.
The Home Office has confirmed 401 migrants crossed in seven small boats on Monday, which was also the biggest one-day number of arrivals this year.
Since the start of the 2024, 2,983 migrants have made the illegal journey.
That figure has now overtaken the total for this point last year, when 2,953 crossed from France.
More migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year than any other at this pointPAThe numbers reaching the UK in 2023 slowed down later in the year, with the Home Office claiming Government policy was behind a 36 per cent reduction in migrant crossings for the year as a whole.
However, a number of maritime experts and migrants in northern France told GB News they believed that poor weather was behind the drop in small boat arrivals last year.
The latest migrant numbers this week will fuel concerns raised by Border Force sources at the end of last year, that 2024 would likely surpass 2023's total.
The figure of 2,983 so far this year, is also higher than the 2,212 who crossed at this point in 2022, the year that recorded the highest ever migrant total, when more than 45,000 small boat migrants were recorded.
More than 40,000 people have now crossed the Channel since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "This is the Prime Minister who promised the British people he would stop the boats, but has now seen more than 40,000 arrivals on his watch.
"Under Rishi Sunak, independent reports show our border security has become a farce, billions are being spent on asylum hotels, and the Home Office has just lost thousands of asylum-seekers.
"Everything this Prime Minister touches fails, and our country deserves better than his weak, incompetent leadership."
Yvette Cooper said there had now been more than 40,000 arrivals on Rishi Sunak's watch
GB NEWS
A Home Office spokesperson said: "Our priority is to stop the boats, which is why we have taken robust action to crack down on vile people smuggling gangs, deter migrants from making dangerous crossings and, alongside our French counterparts, intercept vessels.
"This relentless action reduced crossings by 36 per cent last year, despite numbers soaring by 80 per cent in the Mediterranean, and more than 26,000 attempts were prevented."
