A record 165 migrants reached the UK in a single Channel crossing, the Home Office said, after the boat arrived in Dover on Thursday afternoon.

The new figure surpassed the previous peak recorded in July, when 128 people travelled from France in one vessel.

Record crossing in Dover

Border Security Command released images showing officers towing a “mega dinghy” estimated at 13m (42ft) long, roughly the size of a standard bus.

In comments provided with the confirmation, a Home Office spokesperson said the arrival was a “stark reminder” that criminal gangs have “no regard” for the safety of people they claim to be helping. They added: “The reality is clear and lives are being lost in the Channel”.

Death toll and safety concerns

The University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory said 162 people died in the Channel between 2018 and 2025.

It said the wider total rises to 257 when deaths linked to migration are included, including accidents involving people trying to board lorries bound for the UK.

Care4Calais said the route was becoming more dangerous as crossings involved more people per boat. Sydney Sopher, from the refugee charity, said the UK and French governments have spent years focusing on border security and enforcement, but that this had made Channel crossings more and more dangerous.

He said the charity has called for governments to open safe routes, arguing that enforcement without such options continues to push people into unsafe attempts.

Sopher pointed to the discovery of a body on a beach in Berck days earlier and said the deaths were preventable. He added that the charity believes the tragedies could be stopped overnight by opening safe routes.

Home Office figures and France deal

The Home Office said a new deal with France, signed in April, is intended to prevent “perilous journeys” by boosting enforcement action on beaches.

It said the measure would build on more than 45,000 attempted crossings stopped since the 2024 election.

Home Office figures showed 366 people arrived in the UK on three boats on Thursday during warm, sunny weather with calm conditions at sea. Some 172 people made the journey on Wednesday, ending an 11-day hiatus linked to wind in the Channel.

Combined, the Home Office recorded 538 arrivals across Wednesday and Thursday together.

Officials recorded 13,007 arrivals so far this year. The total is 45% lower than the number logged at this point last year and down 18% compared with the same period in 2024.

Many migrants come from some of the poorest, most oppressive and most chaotic parts of the world, and they typically ask to claim asylum once they are picked up by UK authorities.

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25 July 2026

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Maybe apply common sense...?

5 hours ago, webfact said:

A record 165 migrants reached the UK in a single Channel crossing

Idiots should have went to Australia, they'd be given a house to live in, lots of cash, social security and welfare payments and treated better than any middle aged/old Australian man.

Bloody Wokes running the country.

Let's add Hillary too..

They have upgraded to Mega Dinghies...

Might as well paint over the company name. It's a joke.

Well....things have certainly ballooned since the owl and the pussycat put to sea in a little green boat.

Should have turned those two back to set an example and as a matter of future principle

Lucky we paid France 500 million more to stop this.

Probably all doctors and engineers anyway.

A teenager has been charged with piloting a small boat crossing from France to the UK.

Sudanese national Chan Mathok Atak, 19, is accused of endangering another during a journey by sea to the UK on Thursday.

Atak, from South Sudan, has been remanded in custody and will appear at Margate Magistrates’ Court on Monday, the National Crime Agency said.

Home Office figures show 366 people arrived after crossing in three boats on Thursday during warm, sunny weather and calm conditions at sea.

Teenager charged with piloting small boat from France to UK

Don't panic you have all been told by our leftie' friends many on here, there will be no Iranian' terrorists onboard it was just GBNews' made up stories.

It will probably just be full of the usual industrial scale rapists, thieves, and murders amongst the doctors and engineers' fleeing poverty 🤔

This is encouraging news for the UK, as the nation urgently requires a diverse workforce of doctors and engineers to effectively care for and support its aging population.

3 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Lucky we paid France 500 million more to stop this.

Probably all doctors and engineers anyway.

I just don't get why they keep flocking to Britain. 'Oh, let's go through the great European countries with excellent food, wonderful lifestyles, warm climates, excellent social services and protections, so we can wind up in Ol' Blighty'. Why on earth would they choose Britain over the other European countries? Britain is the poor man of Europe. It's social programmes are no better than most European countries. There aren't opportunities for livelihoods - 4 million youth are unemployed. Britain is hostile to them - everyone must know that by now. Other European countries are much more tolerant. So I just don't get it, unless the smugglers are feeding them BS stories about the place.

23 minutes ago, ronnie50 said:

I just don't get why they keep flocking to Britain. 'Oh, let's go through the great European countries with excellent food, wonderful lifestyles, warm climates, excellent social services and protections, so we can wind up in Ol' Blighty'. Why on earth would they choose Britain over the other European countries? Britain is the poor man of Europe. It's social programmes are no better than most European countries. There aren't opportunities for livelihoods - 4 million youth are unemployed. Britain is hostile to them - everyone must know that by now. Other European countries are much more tolerant. So I just don't get it, unless the smugglers are feeding them BS stories about the place.

Probably because they only speak English, and for some of them already have family or friends there.

For example they are more likely to originate from Nigeria than from Morocco or Angola.

1 minute ago, candide said:

Probably because they only speak English, and for some of them already have family or friends there.

For example they are more likely to originate from Nigeria than from Morocco or Angola.

Yes, okay that would make some sense. Do we know if that's the case? Mostly English speakers?

5 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

I just don't get why they keep flocking to Britain. 'Oh, let's go through the great European countries with excellent food, wonderful lifestyles, warm climates, excellent social services and protections, so we can wind up in Ol' Blighty'. Why on earth would they choose Britain over the other European countries? Britain is the poor man of Europe. It's social programmes are no better than most European countries. There aren't opportunities for livelihoods - 4 million youth are unemployed. Britain is hostile to them - everyone must know that by now. Other European countries are much more tolerant. So I just don't get it, unless the smugglers are feeding them BS stories about the place.

Easier to game the system in the UK. Lots of dumb liberals.

Plus they want to live in a muslim country and Londonistan under Khan fits the bill.

7 hours ago, nick supreme said:

This is encouraging news for the UK, as the nation urgently requires a diverse workforce of doctors and engineers to effectively care for and support its aging population.

News

Not to mention the victims of the Pakistani rape gangs.

Encouraging indeed. Send more.

They're all fighting age men. Nothing like the Kindertransport from Germany to the UK in the lead up to the Second World War.

Musk on Twitter (X) today:

...They are invading just as surely as a conventional army would, but slow enough to avoid triggering an armed defense by Britain...

Edited July 26Jul 26 by nexus7

Nahhh it'll be fine.

16 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

I just don't get why they keep flocking to Britain.

Maybe they just kept going west until they found women who shave their armpits?

881 migrants in 13 dinghies have illegally crossed the channel in the last 4 days.

How many IRANIAN TERRORISTS are amongst them @andyburnham ?

240 migrants illegally crossed in 5 dinghies yesterday.

20 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

I just don't get why they keep flocking to Britain. 'Oh, let's go through the great European countries with excellent food, wonderful lifestyles, warm climates, excellent social services and protections, so we can wind up in Ol' Blighty'. Why on earth would they choose Britain over the other European countries? Britain is the poor man of Europe. It's social programmes are no better than most European countries. There aren't opportunities for livelihoods - 4 million youth are unemployed. Britain is hostile to them - everyone must know that by now. Other European countries are much more tolerant. So I just don't get it, unless the smugglers are feeding them BS stories about the place.

I've read that the English language is a massive draw along with the possibilty they have family already settled here.