A total of 20,422 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, with 440 arriving on Tuesday, the latest Home Office figures show.

LONDON (Reuters) -Nearly 20,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain on small boats so far in 2025, a record high for the first six months of the year, adding pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer as the government works to reduce the numbers.

The number of people crossing the Channel in small boats is the highest for the first half of a calendar year since data was first collected in 2018 - a rise of almost 50% on the first six months of 2024.