Three migrants have died trying to cross the English Channel overnight, just hours after a female migrant drowned in UK waters.

French maritime patrols scrambled to rescue more than 150 migrants in difficulty in the early hours of this morning.

A number have been injured, several suffering from hypothermia.

They were taken to the port of Boulogne around 7am local time, where the French emergency services were waiting to triage the injured.

French police have confirmed that the bodies of three migrants have also been brought ashore.

In an update, Prefect of Pas-de-Calais Laurent Touvet confirmed two children were among the three migrants who drowned in the Channel this morning.

He also confirmed that another three migrants are currently missing, and an active search operation is underway.

It follows the death of a female migrant in UK waters just hours earlier, when the small boat she was in got into difficulties.

Dozens of others had to be rescued from the sea, around 10 miles east of the port of Dover.

A mayday call was issued just before 2pm yesterday after the migrant boat got into difficulties just as it arrived in UK waters.

A female migrant drowned in UK waters yesterday

Maritime sources told GB News a "significant number" of migrants ended up falling overboard and into the Channel.

Lifeboats from Dover and Walmer were also dispatched to the scene, along with a Coastguard plane and a helicopter.

The female migrant was pulled from the sea in an unresponsive state and despite efforts to resuscitate her, was declared dead.

French police and prosecutors have now opened an investigation into the latest incident in the area around Audresselles and Neufchâtel-Hardelot.

The latest tragedy comes as GB News can reveal more than 850 migrants made the illegal journey to the UK in just 24 hours, taking the total number of arrivals this year to 31,000.

Some 674 crossed the Channel on Tuesday, with another 188 making the journey overnight.

GB News provisional figures show that 31,027 migrants have now crossed the English Channel so far this year.

That figure compares to just over 23,000 at the same point last year, and is just over 5,000 away from passing the total number of crossings for the whole of 2024.

As many as 2,023 migrants have arrived by migrant dinghy in just four days since Shabana Mahmood took charge at the Home Office.

Weather conditions have now deteriorated in the Channel in the last few hours, with strong winds likely to prevent many more crossings over the next few days.