Migrants have braved the winter weather to cross the Channel to the UK for the first time in eight days.

Groups of people wearing life jackets were pictured being brought ashore from a Border Force boat in Dover, Kent, on Thursday.

It is the first day of crossings since December 4 and is only the third day of activity so far this month, amid calmer weather conditions in the wake of storms.

Some 33,973 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, provisional Home Office figures show.

This is up 17% on this time last year (29,090) but down 24% on 2022 (44,821), which was a record high year for crossings.

It comes after Germany pledged to tighten its law to make it easier to prosecute people smugglers enabling Channel crossings to Britain, as part of a new deal signed between the two countries on tackling immigration crime.

The move is expected to give German prosecutors more tools to tackle the supply and storage of dangerous boats being used in the crossings.

The latest so-called Calais Group meeting took place in London on Tuesday, with ministers and police from the UK, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands agreeing a plan to tackle people smuggling gangs in 2025.

Meanwhile, the UK Government has suspended making decisions on asylum applications from Syrians following the collapse of the Assad regime.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs the move is under “constant review” as the UK continues to monitor the “fast-moving” situation.