• Migrants arrive in the UK after crossing the English Channel in the first arrivals for July, with children among those disembarking from a Border Security Command boat in Dover, Kent.
• Home Office figures show that 11,884 migrants have crossed the English Channel this year as of Tuesday, which is 44% lower than arrivals at the same point last year and 12% below 2024 numbers.
• The number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel in the first half of the year has sharply decreased compared to the same period in 2025, with 11,884 migrants reaching the UK from January to June, a 41% drop from last year and 12% lower than 2024.

Migrants have arrived in the United Kingdom after crossing the English Channel in the first arrivals for July amid sunny and warm weather.

Pictures showed people in life jackets disembarking from a Border Security Command boat on Wednesday morning at Dover in Kent.

Children appeared to be among those being met by officials at the port.

The crossings are the first for July, with 63 arrivals last recorded on June 30, according to the latest Home Office figures.

Some 11,884 migrants have made the journey across the English Channel this year as of Tuesday.

This is 44% below arrivals at the same point last year (21,117), and 12% below 2024 (13,574).

It comes as the number of migrants who arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in the first half of the year fell sharply compared with the same period in 2025.

Some 11,884 migrants arrived in the six months from the start of January to the end of June, according to Home Office data.

This is 41% lower than the total that had reached the UK by that point last year, which was 19,982.

It is also down 12% on the 13,489 who arrived in the first six months of 2024.

The steep drop is likely to reflect a number of factors including the weather, the supply of small boat parts, government policy and the number of migrants arriving in Europe from elsewhere in the world.