More than 500 migrants cross Channel today as hundreds more expected in what could be new RECORD day

The latest surge in migrant arrivals follows an improvement in weather conditions.

Strong winds in the Channel over the past week had prevented small boat crossings.

Multiple border patrol vessels and lifeboats from France and the UK have been called to respond to Saturday's migrant boat sightings.

Criminal people smugglers pushed boats out from beaches around Dunkirk and Calais this morning, around the same time as a flotilla of 'little ships' set off to return to the UK.

Those vessels had been involved in commemorations to mark the Dunkirk evacuation 85 years ago.

That flotilla is being escorted by a RNLI lifeboat from Ramsgate, the port where many vessels in the flotilla are heading to.

Earlier this month the commemoration flotilla was briefly halted and diverted to allow another migrant boat passage to the UK.

GB News understands that, so far, the flotilla's return journey has not been interrupted by Saturday's migrant boat activity in the Channel.

Today's arrivals take the number of migrants who have made the illegal journey so far this year to more than 14,000.

That figure is 32 per cent higher the almost 10,500 who had crossed by the same point last year.

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A Home Office spokesperson said: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

“That is why this government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.

“Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders."