A migrant has died in the Channel and another is missing presumed drowned while attempting to cross by boat from France to Britain.
The body of the man, who has not been identified, was recovered off Dunkirk but he was declared dead by the French authorities. He is believed to have drowned after his boat capsized. The second migrant has not been found and is presumed dead.
A cross-Channel Irish ferry, the Isle of Inishmore, was even forced to stop and rescue 13 migrants in a sinking dinghy and return them to Calais. Crew threw them a rope to pull their craft to the side of the ship, before rescuing them and returning them to France.
The ferry captain then announced to the passengers: 'Apologies for the delay, but we had to stop and rescue 13 migrants in distress, whose boat had run out of fuel and was sinking.'
It is believed that the current surge in migrant crossings has been caused by good weather along the coast of southern England since Monday - despite the sudden drop in temperatures - which has seen calm Channel waters. In July and September, more than 6,000 migrants took advantage of calm seas and clear skies to make the journey across the Dover Strait.
The surge in crossings led Dover MP Natalie Elphicke to call for controversial 'pushback' tactics to begin immediately against migrant dinghies.
Mrs Elphicke said the French had 'entirely lost control of their border', adding: 'It's time to take forward additional measures including turning boats around and swiftly returning those who come in illegally.'
Yesterday's drowning was the second fatal incident in the past ten days, after at least one migrant was reported to have gone overboard by men rescued on a small boat off Harwich, Essex last Tuesday. It is believed to be the single biggest tragedy in the Channel, an international shipping lane, since a Kurdish-Iranian family of five lost their lives in October last year.
The latest migrants to die on the perilous journey were among more than 400 people rescued by French authorities throughout Tuesday night into Wednesday evening.
A cross-Channel Irish ferry, the Isle of Inishmore, was forced to stop and rescue 13 migrants in a sinking dinghy and return them to Calais
Migrants come ashore at Dungeness in Kent, escorted by border officials and RNLI, after crossing the Channel
Migrants come ashore at Dungeness in Kent, escorted by border officials and RNLI, after crossing the Channel
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard the Dungeness Lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, by Border Force officers following a small boat incident in the Channel
It is believed that the current surge in migrant crossings has been caused by good weather along the coast of southern England since Monday - despite the sudden drop in temperatures - which has seen calm Channel waters
Footage yesterday showed the moment a Channel ferry was forced to stop and rescue migrants in a sinking dinghy, as the number of illegal crossings this year breached 20,000
The group of five people, thought to have been suffering from hypothermia, were found in the rear of a loaded 44-tonne refrigerated lorry
Five people believed to be refugees have been discovered in the back of a refrigerated lorry.
Emergency services were called at around 8.10pm on Tuesday evening to the Poyle Interchange on the M25 Northbound.
The group of five people, thought to have been suffering from hypothermia, were found in the rear of a loaded 44-tonne refrigerated lorry near to the Harmondsworth immigration removal centre.
Traffic officers from Thames Valley Police were alerted to the find and called in firefighters to assist with oxygen and a specialist thermal imaging camera.
A number of people were removed from the rear of the lorry and wrapped in silver space blankets before being taken to the hospital for a check-up.
Those involved have now been handed over to UK border force.
A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said one crew from Heathrow attended and used a thermal imaging camera to check the lorry to make sure there were no further stowaways aboard.
A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: 'We were called by our colleagues in Surrey to reports of five people being inside a refrigerated lorry on the M25.
'Officers from Surrey Police stopped the lorry and Thames Valley Police arrested a 48-year-old man on suspicion of illegally helping asylum seekers to enter the United Kingdom.
'He remains in police custody at this time.
'In terms of an update on the five people inside the lorry, this is being dealt with by Surrey Police.'
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A group of migrants who got into difficulty in the Channel told their rescuers a person had fallen into the sea off Pas-de-Calais. French Navy helicopter Dauphin carried out an extensive search with the help of the fire and rescue service. But this was called off after no one was found by the afternoon.
Another rescue operation saw an unconscious migrant recovered who was later pronounced dead upon arrival at a French port.
A spokesman for the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said late on Wednesday night: 'Unfortunately, despite the means implemented, one person is missing and one other was declared dead, among these very many castaways.
'Indeed, during a rescue operation, the recovered castaways told rescuers that a person had fallen into the sea off the Pas-de-Calais. The CROSS then engages the Dauphin helicopter to carry out dedicated research. Actions are also coordinated with resources from the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS).
'At the end of the morning, after fruitless searches and lack of new information, the maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea decided to suspend the searches at sea. In addition, during another rescue operation, a castaway was recovered unconscious.
'Rescuers did their best, but this person was pronounced dead upon returning to the dock.'
The French Navy helicopter Dauphin and Belgian Army chopper Caiman helped rescue tug Abeille Languedoc, French Navy patrol vessel Cormorant, Customs patroller Jacques Oudart
