(BBC) More than 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year, the BBC has calculated, the highest number since figures began to be collected in 2018.
Last year 28,526 people reached the south of England, while in 2020 there were just over 8,000 arrivals.
The official figure will be released by the Ministry of Defence on Sunday.
The government hopes its plan to send some migrants to Rwanda will deter people from crossing the Channel.
Two weeks of bad weather in the Channel has allowed the Home Office to reduce the number of migrants being held at Manston, the overcrowded processing centre in Kent.
