More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A weather-related lull in channel crossings by migrants may give some respite for Border Force today.
This morning all of the agency's search and rescue vessels remained in the Marina at Dover docks - a vast difference to the continuous activity during last week's heatwave.
That is apart from Border Force patrol vessel Seeker, which scoured the area between Dover and St Margaret's Bay.
Our pictures show moderate to poor visibility in the channel and the Met Office predicts a mixture of sunshine and thundery showers in the next 24 hours.
Last night the Home Office reported that 74 migrants had made it to Britain.
Border Force officials were called to six incidents in the Channel on the same day that Immigration Minister Chris Philp met with his French counterpart for talks on the issue.
Twenty men from Syria arrived in one boat on Monday.
Last week's heatwave led to more than 700 people made the perilous crossing in the English Channel.
A record day was seen on Thursday, where 235 people made it across.
The spike has led to unprecedented pressure on Border Force workers, many of whom worked longer shifts in temperatures that reached over 30 degrees on unsheltered boats or at the dockside weighed down by 10 kilos of body armour.
Politicians have been forced into action.
Yesterday Chris Philp, and the new clandestine channel threat commander Dan O’Mahoney met the minister's French counterpart in Paris to agree an action plan.
He said: "We are determined to completely stop dangerous and unecessary small boat crossings, which will mean migrants then have no reason to come to France. We are working to agree a wide, new plan to deliver this result."
Before the meeting he was expected to call for migrants caught trying to cross to be fingerprinted in France and face "real consequences".
On Monday the Prime Minister said he seeks a change to the law that says asylum cases must be heard in the country in which they identify themselves to the authorities.
The buckling strain on Border Force and the sheer numbers of migrants heading to Britain prompted the Home Office to submit a request for military aid on Friday - a day when 130 cases arrived in 13 boats. Home Secretary Priti Patel asked for the Royal Navy to provide a 'pushing back' service, like that used in Australia.
