𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The first migrant boat of 2026 has arrived in Dover, the Daily Express understands. Dozens of desperate asylum seekers ignored freezing temperatures and dangerous conditions to try to reach the UK.

Rescue teams had to carry at least one person to shore on a stretcher. Other attempts to reach the UK were aborted because conditions in the Channel deteriorated, sources told the Daily Express. Temperatures in Calais dipped to as low as -1C on Monday, with conditions feeling closer to -4C in places.

Meanwhile, Dover recorded lows of -3C as residents in the Kent town woke up to conditions feeling closer to -7C.

Home Office figures show 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK in 2025 after crossing the English Channel – the second-highest annual figure on record.

The yearly total was 13% higher than the figure for 2024, when 36,816 migrants made the journey, and 41% higher than 2023’s total of 29,437.

It was also 9% below the all-time high of 45,774 in 2022.

The earliest point in the calendar year to record crossings was on January 2 in 2021 and 2023, with 10 and 44 people respectively.

Last year, the first arrivals of 61 people were recorded on January 4.

It comes as new powers to seize mobile phones and SIM cards from migrants making the perilous journey came into force on Monday, as part of efforts to gather intelligence and crack down on people smugglers.

Officers will be able to take electronic devices from people at the Manston processing centre in Kent, without needing to arrest them, and can search someone’s mouth for hidden SIM cards.

The Home Office said there is technology ready on site to download data from the phones.

The new powers for law enforcement agencies are hoped to speed up investigations and come after the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act became law in December.

The UK’s border security commander Martin Hewitt, tasked with curbing Channel crossings, said the move marks a “key moment” to go further with extra tools to crack down on smugglers.