More migrants arrive in Dover as busy year for small boats crossings continues

More migrants have arrived in Dover on Friday bundled in blankets and foil against the brisk November chill.

A woman was seen being helped ashore by officials, apparently struggling to walk unaided after her journey across the Channel.

Temperatures at the Kent port hovered around 7C to 8C (45F to 46F) with winds of up to 13mph (21kmph).

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought into Dover on Friday (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Several boats are believed to have made it across the Channel on Friday, with children reported to have arrived earlier in the morning.

Despite deteriorating weather conditions as winter approaches, Border Force continues to deal with numbers of people making the dangerous trip from northern France.

Numbers of people making the dangerous crossing aboard small boats have rocketed this year, with more than 8,000 reaching the UK, according to data analysis by the PA news agency.

A man is helped by a Border Force officer (Gareth Fuller/PA)

This is despite Home Secretary Priti Patel’s vow in 2019 to make such journeys an “infrequent phenomenon”.

It comes after a report published recently which chronicles nearly 300 border-related deaths in and around the English Channel since 1999.

It describes the evolution of border security in and around the Dover Strait as a “history of death”.