Border Force is braced for 22,000 migrants to cross the Channel in small boats this year with thousands more expected to be smuggled over in lorries.
More than 8,900 migrants have already reached Britain after making the 21-mile journey across from France, exceeding last year’s record total.
Analysis by The Times using data from the past 18 months suggests the numbers could double by October. By the end of the year, a further 12,900 are forecast to cross, according to a formula that has accurately predicted this year’s figures so far. It would take the total for this year to about 22,000. That is almost triple the 8,420 that made it across in 2020, which was itself four times higher than the previous year’s
