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Downing Street says the small boat situation in the English Channel is deteriorating.
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French police are struggling to halt a potentially record-breaking surge of people from reaching the UK in small boats organised by a growing network of smuggling gangs.
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More than 16,500 people have crossed the Channel this year alone.
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That's up 45% on the same period last year.
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Andrew Harding has been to the beaches of northern France to see the challenge faced by the authorities as smuggling gangs change their tactics.
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A serene stretch of French sand south of Calais and the end of another busy night.
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Below, some of the many hundreds of people who've been trying to dodge the police and catch a ride on a smuggler's boat.
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And here's how that struggle has been playing out.
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Moments earlier, on the very same beach, dozens of migrants gathering in the shallows.
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Camerawoman Lea Gage and I wade out towards them.
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The boat circles, people waiting their turn as if queuing for a bus or a taxi.
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On board, the man on the left appears to be directing things.
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The next group is moving forwards to try and get on board.
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Are you going to get on?
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Yeah.
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Are you going to England?
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Yeah, I'm going to England.
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Last on, families, some struggling.
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There are people here from Afghanistan, Eritrea.
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The so-called taxi boat system is the smugglers' latest tactic.
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They launch the boats in secret, sometimes up to 100 kilometres away, then cruise along the coast, picking up passengers and avoiding the police.
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This is the problem for the French police.
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As soon as these migrants are in the water, the police say they cannot intervene.
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And so 18 police officers stand and watch.
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What would you say to people in Britain watching these pictures and thinking, surely the French police can do more?
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The police will be able to be more effective when our government changes the rules to authorise us to intercept a boat when it's already in the water.
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But we need to be careful not to put the in more danger.
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It's been clear for days that another surge of small boat crossings was coming, a build-up of people in the camps, good weather forecast.
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And so a last proper meal for Luna from Somalia before she sets off again.
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How many times have you tried to cross?
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Me, I tried 12 times.
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Can you swim?
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No, I don't swim.
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It's risky.
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And sometimes the boat is very far.
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That's why women and children left so many times behind.
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So the men clamber on board the boat.
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It's harder for you.
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Yeah, it's harder for us.
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Afternoon, and the crowds cram into buses, guided by their smugglers, to be dropped off along a huge stretch of French coastline.
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Nighttime, and the French police are getting good at spotting the migrants with their drones, the camera picking up people sitting round a fire.
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But as so often, the smugglers are a step ahead.
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And now, frustrating news reaches the police.
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Up the coast, this car has just raced onto the beach itself, with a taxi boat strapped to the roof, ready to launch in seconds.
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Too quick for the police.
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So the smugglers are adapting again.
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But it's not over.
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The police are now trying to catch the smugglers before they can pick up any passengers.
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So we're now racing up the coast, following the police, as they try to track a taxi boat, which is already at sea, and we can actually see it off the coast just there.
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It's a group of migrants up ahead.
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They're waiting in the water, hoping to catch a taxi boat, which we can see arriving just now.
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Within minutes, dozens of people have managed to squeeze on board, and the taxi boat sets off towards England.
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The French police say overall, they stop more than two-thirds of small boat launches on land.
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But the smugglers are still winning.
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On this occasion, perhaps a dozen people are left behind.
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One couple pondering, wordlessly, whether to linger or to head back to shore.
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The lieu of Britain means most here will try again, and again.
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Andrew Harding, BBC News, Northern France.
