A record 45,756 illegal immigrants crossed the English Channel to reach the UK in 2022, UK government figures show.
The last crossings of the year took place on Christmas Day when 90 people made the journey from France in two boats.
The Ministry of Defence recorded no further crossings for the remaining six days of 2022 amid bad weather conditions.
The provisional annual total for 2022 is a record high and is 60 percent up on the figure for the whole of 2021, but it is lower than the 60,000 that Home Office officials previously estimated could make the journey during the year.
August 2022 was the highest month on record for illegal Channel crossings when 8,631 people arrived in the UK after making the journey. Aug. 22 saw a record 1,295 illegal immigrants crossing in a single day on 27 boats….