More than 7,000 migrants are feared to have crossed the Channel this year after smugglers exploited a narrow window of good weather on Tuesday to launch boats bound for Britain. At least 400 asylum seekers may have been detected, with Border Force and the French navy scrambling to keep up with the smugglers.

Every French patrol vessel was tasked with responding to at least eight small boats sighted in the Channel, GB News reported. The Dungeness RNLI lifeboat also raced into the middle of the Channel and went back to Dover, according to ship-tracking website Marine Traffic, because every Border Force boat was rescuing migrants. A group has been spotted getting off Border Force Defender in Dover and taken for processing.

They were all wearing orange life jackets and there appeared to be women among the dozens of men.

Border Force catamarans Volunteer and Typhoon are also expected to bring migrants to shore after spending time in the Channel this morning, adding to the record-breaking year.

So far this year 6,796 people have arrived in 123 boats, with increasing numbers of passengers being crammed onto fewer boats.

But these figures do not include Tuesday’s arrivals, meaning the actual total could be even higher.

Commenting on reports of 400 migrants crossing the Channel this morning, Reform UK MP Lee Anderson added: “We knew 400 migrants were on their way and still did nothing to stop them. It’s a disgrace – and Labour couldn’t care less about the cost or crime this brings to our country.

“With advance warning, we should be deploying border forces and sending them home. Right now, we have no control over who enters Britain.”

Border Force Hurricane and MCS Taku, which collects empty inflatable dinghies, were also operating in the Channel on Tuesday.

One senior maritime security source told GB News it was clear that a law enforcement approach alone was not working.

The source said: "Officials are now trying to suggest that we're seeing record numbers of Channel migrants because of the unusually high number of days when weather conditions have been favourable.

"But the fact is, if the law enforcement efforts against the criminal gangs were actually working, it wouldn't matter how good the weather was.

"The ability of the criminal gangs to operate would be curtailed, and we'd expect to see a corresponding drop in small boat activity."

In a social media video, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: "As I speak to you, nearly 500 young undocumented males are crossing the English Channel – it's not going to stop!

“The numbers are now running at a record. Young men who come in with no documents get free housing, free healthcare, get everything, and Labour candidates – like the one standing in the by-election in Runcorn – seem to want to welcome everyone who comes.”

More than 30,000 migrants have crossed the Channel since Labour took office in July.

In comparison, 5,435 people had arrived in 114 boats last year.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

"That’s why this government has put forward a serious, credible plan to finally restore order to our asylum system, including tougher enforcement powers, ramping up returns to their highest levels for more than half a decade and a major crackdown on illegal working to end the false promise of jobs used by gangs to sell spaces on boats."