Image source, Reuters

As coastguard boats carrying migrants arrived in Portsmouth on Sunday night, protesters gathered firstly to attempt stop them landing, then to prevent buses carrying migrants from leaving for processing centres.

Here's how events have unfolded since:

• A Home Office update confirmed that 625 migrants on eight boats were brought to shore at Dover and Portsmouth on Sunday
• A police investigation is underway to identify offenders after police, coastguard and border force vehicles were damaged and a small number of officers were treated at the scene of protests for injuries
• Meanwhile Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones says that while the protest in Portsmouth was "largely" peaceful, the scenes were a "wake-up call to the government" that "British people are fed up with the lack of control of our borders"
• One local witness says the protest has left her feeling "genuinely unsettled", while another calls them "an absolute shock and a real worry"
• Events in Portsmouth followed a road blockage in Dover's port on Saturday; our UK correspondent has more on the man who appears to be behind the demonstrations - an activist known to supporters as Danny Tommo
• Minister Emma Reynolds condemned "thuggish" and "intimidating" behaviour that she saw displayed but accepted people have "legitimate concerns" about immigration
• The number of people crossing the English Channel by small boat has fallen by 43% in the year between 1 January and 5 September 2026 compared to the same period in the previous year, but thousands still arrive in the UK each year

Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today

The Home Office has just released the latest figures on small-boat crossings: 625 people were brought to shore at Dover and - unusually - Portsmouth yesterday.

They made the journey in eight boats.

We know there have been further arrivals today - with around 140 people on two boats getting to Dover in the early hours before the weather changed and became much windier.

Today's numbers won't officially be confirmed until tomorrow by the government.

More than 17,000 people have reached the UK on small boats so far this year. It's a significant number, but down considerably on the same period last year.

Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today

625 migrants on eight boats were brought to shore at Dover and Portsmouth yesterday, according to Home Office figures.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says the country is on the edge of "serious civil disturbance", and that governments have "failed us completely and utterly".

In a video shared on X, he says "people wearing masks, dressed up in a similar type uniform to a paramilitary is not going to solve this problem," and adds that there is a "marked difference" between events in Portsmouth last night, and scenes in Dover on Saturday.

He finishes: "Peaceful protest: good. Uniforms and masks: bad. Voting is the only way we get a solution."

Are small boats carrying more migrants?published at 14:18 BST

14:18 BST

By Aidan McNamee

Small boats crossing the Channel carried an average of 77 people last month, the highest figure on record.

Despite dipping toward the end of last year, the number of people per boat has generally risen year-on-year, with the average having more than doubled in the past five years.

Last month, a record 230 people arrived in the UK on a single boat. As British and French authorities have stepped up efforts to prevent crossings, people smugglers have increasingly turned to larger vessels known as "mega-dinghies" which can carry far more passengers than traditional inflatables.

For the latest data on Channel crossings and migration to the UK, visit BBC Verify’s migration tracker.

Image source, Reuters

While "nothing excuses either violent or disruptive protest", the scenes in Portsmouth overnight show that "people are genuinely angry at the government's failure to stop the boats", according to the shadow home secretary.

Speaking to broadcasters in Westminster, Chris Philp says arrivals into the UK are now on "mega-dinghies with one or two hundred illegal immigrants entering our country with the French doing nothing to stop it".

"Our government is failing," says Philp, who adds that a "radically different approach is needed".

"Leave the European Convention on Human Rights so small boat migrants could be immediately deported on arrival and the crossings would pretty quickly stop," he says.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary says an investigation is ongoing to "identify offenders responsible for any assaults to officers, criminal damage to vehicles or other criminal offences" following last night's protests in Portsmouth.

A number of police, Coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged during the protest and a small number of officers were treated at the scene for injuries, but no one was seriously injured, the force says.

“Violence and criminal damage have no part in peaceful protest,” it adds.

The force also says Border Force has advised "individuals from the boat have been transported outside of Hampshire for processing".

Image source, PA Media

Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today

Kent Police have defended their handling of the protest in Dover on Saturday, that saw people wearing masks and dressed in black block roads and bring traffic to the Port to a standstill.

Officers have admitted they did not know about the protest in advance, leading to accusations of a failure in intelligence-gathering.

Kent Police Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Brookes says in a statement: "It is important we distinguish between conduct we find objectionable and disruptive, and conduct which constitutes a criminal offence."

He says the only offence police are currently investigating was damage to a road.

He adds: "We will examine the intelligence process, but it is important to note that we do not as a matter of course monitor peaceful protesters, and their political viewpoints are not taken into consideration."

The police say they are disappointed there was so much disruption in the town, but insist they had engaged with those causing it to bring the demonstration to an end by lunchtime.

Eastney Landing ferry port in Portsmouth is much quieter today than Sunday evening.

This morning, a police cordon remains in place around a police car at the port which has its windscreen smashed.

Photos show officers patrolling on a rigid inflatable boat off the coast of Eastney Beach, while a pile of discarded lifejackets can be seen piled up on the side of the road.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA

Image source, Reuters

UK and French aircraft tracked during migrant boat crossingpublished at 12:34 BST

12:34 BST

By Rob Corp

BBC Verify has been looking at flight-tracking websites to monitor activity over the English Channel yesterday around the time the migrant boat was crossing.

Flight-tracking websites show that a French Securite Civile helicopter left Cherbourg shortly before 09:00 BST on Sunday and headed north-east across the Channel. Tracking data is incomplete but the French aircraft flew north-east until it was about 39km (24 miles) off the French coast.

Tracking was intermittent before data showed the helicopter returning to Cherbourg just before 09:30.

Shortly after 11:00 a HM Coastguard King Air aircraft was tracked taking off from Newquay airport in Cornwall before heading east to the Channel. It arrived over a point approximately midway between the Isle of Wight and the coast of Normandy at 11:49.

This aircraft flew various circular and oval orbits over the Channel and was joined by a Coastguard helicopter at 12:52. At 13:38 the helicopter flew towards the Isle of Wight before landing at Lee-on-Solent just before 14:00.

At 13:59, 23km (15 miles) south of Ventnor, the Coastguard King Air completed its last orbit and flew west back towards Cornwall.

Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent

Over the weekend we saw migrants make a journey from the coast of Normandy in France to Portsmouth in Hampshire (a journey of around 75 miles (120km) depending on the specific route taken).

It's thought to be one of the longest boat journeys facilitated by smugglers attempting to transport people to the UK.

Migration analysts say people are experimenting with new routes across the English Channel to avoid deterrents.

For example, the French police have a heavy presence in places like Calais and Dunkirk, so migrants may think it would be easier to attempt their crossing from elsewhere without intervention.

But be in no doubt - a longer boat journey is more perilous and potentially could cost further lives.

One asylum seeker who came to the UK via small boat a few years ago tells the BBC that doesn't matter though.

He says: "The length of the journey is irrelevant. Migrants will do anything to come here - their desperation is immense and it will matter little that they'll be in the water longer."

He added their ultimate aim is to get into British waters so they can legally claim asylum.

James Kelly
Your Voice

Image source, Kelly Pickard

Kelly Pickard was on a boat with her family in Portsmouth yesterday when they saw the RNLI come in.

"It was a very strange scene to witness, all the people on board, the authorities arriving and setting up temporary units for processing, coaches, police and protesters," she tells the BBC.

She explains the family had to abandon their car and sail instead to the other side of the harbour - walking home from there.

She calls it an "incredibly unsettling situation".

"I understand that people have their own views on the situation, however the views of some of the protesters that I heard last night have left me feeling genuinely unsettled," Pickard adds.

"It’s difficult not to worry about raising my child in a place where people hold and openly express such extreme views, particularly when they’re being expressed with so much aggression."

Daniel Sandford
UK correspondent

Image source, SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The man who seems to have organised the balaclava protest in Dover and the more spontaneous protest in Portsmouth last night is Danny Thomas, known to his supporters as Danny Tommo.

He is a long-term campaigner against migrants and claims to be a Christian. "Christ is King!" was shouted alongside "Stop the boats!" at the Dover protest.

Danny Tommo first came to public attention in 2016 when he was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to attempting to kidnap at knifepoint a man called Graham Page.

When he came out of prison, he became a close associate of the anti-migrant and anti-Muslim activist known as Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon).

They appear to be less close now, though Tommy Robinson has expressed support for this weekend's protests.

Using social media, Danny Tommo spent last year filming himself on the beaches of France, harassing migrants.

In July, he announced a new venture called Patriot Platform. He spent the summer at Patriot Platform-themed events drumming up support for what he called "mass resistance" but without violence.

The Dover balaclava protest, well-organised and disciplined, was the group's first outing. It unlikely to be the last.

He seems to be borrowing ideas from groups like Just Stop Oil. Strong visual protests, with maximum disruption.

• Read more from Daniel Sandford on the link between the two protests in our previous post

Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today

Image source, French lifeboat services

This grainy image given to us by the French lifeboat crew based at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue in Normandy shows the dinghy that was taken to Portsmouth, sparking last night's protests.

It was carrying around 140 people, and was only a short way into its journey at this point.

The boat was shadowed for around ten hours by several vessels to make sure it didn't get into difficulty, given the number of people on board.

When it reached UK waters, the migrants became the responsibility of the British authorities. They were transferred mid-Channel onto two lifeboats and taken to shore.

As we've been reporting, two protests took place in the south of England over the weekend with hundreds demonstrating against migrants arriving by small boats.

Here's a quick reminder of how events unfolded:

• On Saturday morning, a large demonstration took place at the Port of Dover. It blocked traffic in and out of the port for several hours - bringing lots of disruption to the UK's busiest international ferry and passenger port
• In the early hours of Sunday morning, at around 01:00 BST, a dinghy carrying 140 migrants leaves the French shoreline near Cherbourg
• French rescue boats travelled alongside the dinghy for around ten hours as the French Coastguard said it was not safe to stop the boat once it was in the water - and at around midday it reaches UK waters
• A decision is then made between Border Force and the Coastguard to dock the boat in Portsmouth - there's more on that in our earlier post
• By Sunday afternoon, a second protest had begun in Portsmouth - with roads blocked in a bid to prevent coaches carrying the migrants from leaving the city

Labour MP Stephen Morgan, whose Portsmouth South constituency covers the landing area where the migrants were brought to shore, says: "The intimidating and thuggish behaviour seen last night has no place in Portsmouth."

Reiterating the government's comments earlier, Morgan says: "The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy, but it must never cross a line into disorder."

He thanks the emergency crews who responded yesterday, and says he will continue to work with the Home Office and local services to support communities today.

Image source, PA Media

Were the Dover and Portsmouth protests linked?published at 10:49 BST

10:49 BST

Daniel Sandford
UK correspondent

This weekend saw two anti-migrant protests.

The men in balaclavas in Dover, and the crowd trying to block the migrant coaches in Portsmouth - but how are they linked?

The answer is one man - Danny Thomas, more often known as Danny Tommo - and some apparently poor decision-making by Border Force officials.

Danny Tommo had organised the Dover protest, where men in black clothing and balaclavas blocked the main roads near the Port of Dover for several hours.

It seems to have been well-planned in advance, after weeks of plotting over the summer. Kent Police referred to it as a "spontaneous protest".

On Sunday, when Border Force was deciding where to ask the RNLI to being ashore a boatful of migrants the decision was made to bring them to the Eastney landing stage - where the passenger ferry goes from Portsmouth to Hayling Island.

Danny Tommo comes from Hayling Island.

Whether this decision was made through ignorance or incompetence, it made it very easy for him to mobilise his local support last night using social media.

Image source, Reuters

Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson says it is "no wonder" people are taking to the streets to vent their anger at the arrival of people he says "have no right to be in this country".

Anderson writes on X that he fully supports "British people who turn up in huge numbers" to peacefully protest, but says Reform's policy is to ban all face coverings in public - including balaclavas and those worn for religious reasons.

At the Dover protest on Saturday, hundreds of protesters blocked roads while wearing all black outfits with their faces covered.

He adds that Reform condemns "attacks on our police" - and tells those looking to protest that they have his support if they "do it the right way".

The party's home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf, also writing on X, says the people of Portsmouth have "every right to be scared and angry".

He adds that under Reform policy, marines would have orders to ensure "not a single illegal vessel makes it to our shores" with all illegal migrants "detained and deported".

Image source, Ella Prichard

Portsmouth resident Ella Prichard says she saw the Portsmouth protest last night when she went out to get a takeaway.

She tells BBC Radio Solent it was "an absolutely surreal shock" to see what was happening.

"Somewhere that is a place that we go on a daily basis - suddenly becoming infested with police, riot vans, coaches - it is not equipped for that sort of level of intrusion.

"It was an absolute shock and a real worry."

But, she describes the protest as a "huge display of how people feel about this sort of thing possibly becoming a regular occurrence".

Image source, French lifeboat services

Thousands of migrants are still crossing the English Channel by small boat each year - but the total number has dropped, according to Home Office data.

Between 1 January and 5 September 2026, a total of 16,513 people crossed the English Channel by small boat from France - 43% lower than the same period the previous year.

It is also lower than at this point of any of the past four years.

Small boat crossings have become the most common way for people to be detected entering the UK illegally since 2020 - and account for 40% of asylum applications between July 2025 and June 2026.

When looking at the scale of small boats crossings, the number of arriving by small boats is about 5% of the size of total immigration into the UK from January 2025 to December 2025.