More than 1,000 Channel migrants arrive in UK in two days

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak battling to carry out Britain's plan to deport migrants to Rwanda amid setbacks

A total of 1,070 migrants crossed the Channel on Friday and Saturday, Home Office figures reveal. PA

More than 1,000 migrants arrived in the UK on Friday and Saturday, as warmer weather sparked a surge in the number of boats making the Channel crossing.

A total of 384 people on Saturday followed what was the busiest day in the migration crisis so far this year, when rescuers picked up 686 people crossing the Channel on Friday.

The latest government figures, which showed 1,070 people made the journey in two days, deal a blow to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s efforts bring the crisis under control.

The surge comes weeks after he claimed his measures to curb illegal crossings were “starting to work”.

Friday's figure passed this year’s previous daily high of 549 recorded on Sunday, June 11.

The official number of crossings since the start of the year is now 12,119, compared with about 13,000 at the same point last year.

The number who made the crossing throughout last year reached a record 45,755.

The Prime Minister has made tackling the migration crisis one of his five key priorities.

But his administration’s efforts to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda while their claims are being processed has been met with several hurdles.

Court of Appeal judges last week overturned a High Court ruling that previously said the East African nation could be considered a “safe third country”. They said sending migrants to Rwanda would be illegal.

The government has lodged a bid to take its legal battle to the UK’s most senior judges at the Supreme Court.

Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesman, said: “It is clear that the government’s approach to tackling the small boats crisis in our Channel is simply not working.

“Instead of spouting spiteful rhetoric, [Home Secretary] Suella Braverman and the Home Office she fails to run should tackle the huge asylum seeker backlog immediately.

“This government has turned a blind eye to the crisis in the Channel. Their immoral and ineffective small boats Bill will make no difference whatsoever.”