The pause – believed to be due to poor weather conditions – is the longest in seven years.

Before the weekend, no vessels had reached the southern English coast for 28 days, according to interior ministry figures.

Migrants last arrived on the south coast from northern France on Nov 14.

Figures for how many arrived on Saturday, when a number of small boats were seen in the Channel, according to the PA news agency, will be released later.

The number of migrants taking the perilous route to the UK has become a major political issue in Britain.

The crossings are helping fuel the popularity of Reform, led by firebrand Nigel Farage, which has led Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party by double-digit margins in opinion polls for most of this year.

This year looks likely to see the second highest annual number of migrants arriving in small boats since data was first reported in 2018.

More than 39,000 people, many fleeing conflict, have arrived on small boats this year – more than for the whole of 2024 but lower than the record of 45,774 arrivals set in 2022, when the Conservatives were in power.