Two migrants have died in the English Channel overnight, as a fresh surge in small boats make the crossing this weekend, GB News can reveal.
The tragedy unfolded off the French coast near Boulogne when a packed migrant boat got into difficulties after midnight last night.
Two unconscious female migrants were rescued from the boat and taken ashore, but paramedics were unable to resuscitate them.
Several other migrants were transferred to hospital suffering from hypothermia and other injuries.
The tragedy comes as hundreds more migrants have begun to make the crossing this weekend.
GB News can confirm that more than 200 have either already arrived this morning or are currently attempting to reach UK waters.
These are the first crossings since more than 1,100 made it to the UK last weekend.
A week of windy weather in the Channel has prevented crossings until today.
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Two migrants have died in the English Channel overnight, GB News can reveal
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Winds eased overnight, allowing people smugglers to push out boats from beaches around Dunkirk in the north, to Boulogne further south.
The unpredictable weather has led to a new pattern of small boat arrivals for the past couple of months.
Instead of a regular summer drumbeat of a few hundred arrivals, there are now lengthy spells without crossings.
That regular, smaller drumbeat has been replaced by huge numbers of a thousand or more on the days when the weather allows.
Several other migrants were transferred to hospital suffering from hypothermia and other injuries
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GB News understands that Border Force is preparing for a number or 'Red Days' this weekend, into early next week.
Maritime sources have suggested as many as 2,000 could cross in that period.
If that happens, it will bring the total of illegal arrivals so far this year to 34,000.
The latest surge comes as the Prime Minister prepares for the start of the Labour Party conference this weekend, vowing to introduce digital ID cards, in an effort to stamp out illegal working.
A view of small boats and outboard motors used by people thought to be migrants to cross the Channel from France at a warehouse facility in Dover
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Meanwhile, the Government's partial returns deal with France is continuing to be frustrated by multiple legal challenges.
Since the scheme came into operation in early August, just seven small boat migrants have been returned to France.
Over that same time period, some 6,000 Channel migrants have made the illegal crossing.