More arrivals are expected on Sunday.
Small boat migrants (Image: Getty)
Hundreds of migrants are headed for the UK on small boats on Sunday as multiple boats make the dangerous crossing in the Channel, according to reports. GB News has reported that a migrant dinghy is heading in the direction of the Hampshire coast this morning after launching from a beach in western Normandy.
It comes as a growing number of migrants are trying to cross the Channel on small boats using longer routes from beaches further south and west of Calais and Dunkirk. Last week, one boat set off from Normandy and spent more than 30 hours at sea, the BBC reports, before being intercepted and taken to Dover by Border Force.
Migrant Crossings In small boats are down to the lowest numbers since 2020 (Image: Getty)
The boat that is reportedly heading for the south coast of the UK is reportedly one of multiple dinghies making the crossing on Sunday, as hundreds of illegal migrants head for UK waters.
The boat was reportedly spotted by a French border patrol ship and two lifeboats. Attempts to cross the channel from places like Normandy are rare, but authorities in neighbouring Seine-Maritime have said that there have already been 58 attempts this year, up from 30 last year.
In September, one migrant boat was met by lifeboats from the Isle of Wight after it set off from the Cherbourg area, nearly 80 miles (128 km) from the beaches where many of the small boats have crossed in recent years. It means that migrants are spending significantly more hours on these boats on dangerous journeys.
Audrey Baconnais-Rosez, the local government representative in Seine-Maritime, said: “The number of attempts to cross the Channel has increased in number and it is getting further and further from the north of France.”
The dinghy that is currently set for Hampshire set off from a beach near Cherbourg around 6am today, GB News reports. It is still several hours away from reaching UK waters, where British vessels will be there to pick up those on board.
In Portsmouth and elsewhere in Hampshire, there have been several anti-migrant protests in recent weeks. It came after the arrival of the large dinghy into the Channel south of the Isle of Wight in September, with further attempts to land in Hampshire stopped because of the protests.
Nearly 500 migrants have arrived across the Channel since Friday. Around 19,700 illegal immigrants have made it to the UK by dinghy so far in 2026.