Almost 900 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel illegally so far this weekend.
According to GB News provisional figures, the total number crossing on Saturday reached 886 just after 6pm on Saturday, when the Border Force vessel Volunteer arrived in Dover harbour with a further 153 on board.
The latest arrivals take the number of small boat migrants who have crossed from France so far this year to 33,076.
After more than a week of bad weather and no crossings, conditions are expected to remain relatively good for the rest of the weekend and into early next week, with more migrant arrivals expected.
The fresh surge in migrant arrivals comes just hours after GB News revealed that three asylum seekers died in the English Channel.
Two unconscious female migrants were rescued from the boat and taken ashore, but paramedics were unable to resuscitate them.
The women were apparently asphyxiated in a badly overcrowded boat, carrying more than 100 migrants.
The tragedy unfolded off the French coast near Boulogne when a packed migrant boat got into difficulties after midnight last night.
Two migrants have died in the English Channel overnight, GB News can reveal
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Several others, including a young child, were taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia and other injuries.
The third migrant died in a separate incident later in the day.
French fire service paramedics were called to reports of a body floating in the sea near Dunkirk.
French officials said the body of a man was also recovered around 11am today.
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Several other migrants were transferred to hospital suffering from hypothermia and other injuries
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Authorities have confirmed the deceased man was a migrant.
The tragedy comes as hundreds more migrants have begun to make the crossing this weekend.
GB News confirmed this morning that at least 300 other migrants had initially attempted to cross the Channel.
However, the figure increased drastically over the course of the day.
Since the Government's partial returns deal with France was launched, 6,000 Channel migrants have made the illegal crossing
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Today's arrivals mark 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.
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.
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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That regular, smaller drumbeat has been replaced by huge numbers of a thousand or more on the days when the weather allows.
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.
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.