There have been no migrant arrivals in small boats crossing the Channel for 28 days, according to Home Office figures.

The last recorded arrivals were on 14 November, making it the longest uninterrupted run since autumn 2018 after no reported arrivals on Friday.

However, a number of Border Force vessels were active in the English Channel on Saturday morning, indicating that there may be arrivals today.

So far, 39,292 people have crossed to the UK aboard small boats this year – already more than any other year except 2022.

The record that year was set at 45,774 arrivals.

It comes as the government has stepped up efforts in recent months to deter people from risking their lives crossing the Channel – but measures are not expected to have an impact until next year.

December is normally one of the quietest for Channel crossings, with a combination of poor visibility, low temperatures, less daylight and stormy weather making the perilous journey more difficult.

The most arrivals recorded in the month of December is 3,254, in 2024.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy met with ministers from other European countries this week as discussions over possible reform to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) continue.

The issue of small boat arrivals – a very small percentage of overall UK immigration – has become a salient issue in British politics in recent years.

Last month, French maritime police announced they would soon be able to intercept boats in the English Channel.

Next, the high street fashion giant, is plotting a swoop on Russell & Bromley, the 145 year-old shoe retailer.

Sky News has learnt that Next, which has a market capitalisation of £16.6bn, is among the parties in talks with Russell & Bromley’s advisers about a deal.

City sources said this weekend that a number of other suitors were also in the frame to make an investment in the chain, although their identities were unclear.

The talks come amid the peak Christmas trading period, with retail bosses hopeful that consumer confidence holds up over the coming weeks despite the stuttering economy.

Russell & Bromley confirmed several weeks ago that it had drafted in Interpath, the advisory firm, to explore options for raising new financing for the business.

The chain trades from 37 stores and employs more than 450 people.

It was formed in 1880 when the first Russell & Bromley store opened in Eastbourne.

Seven years earlier, George Bromley and Elizabeth Russell, both of whom hailed from shoemaking families, were married, paving the way for the establishment of the business.

Russell & Bromley is now run by Andrew Bromley, the fifth generation of his family to hold the reins.

Billie Piper, the actress and singer, is the current face of the brand as it tries to appeal to younger consumers as part of a five-year turnaround plan.

If it materialised, an acquisition or investment by Next would mark the latest in a string of brand deals struck by Britain’s most successful London-listed fashion retailer.

In recent years, it has bought brands such as Cath Kidston, Joules and Seraphine, the maternitywear retailer for knockdown prices.

Next also owns Made.com, the online furniture retailer, and FatFace, the high street fashion brand.

Under Lord Wolfson, its veteran chief executive, Next has defied the wider high street gloom to become one of the UK’s best-run businesses.

Its Total Platform infrastructure solution has enabled it to plug in other retail brands in order to provide logistics, e-commerce and digital service capabilities.

Both Victoria’s Secret and Gap also have partnerships with Next using the Total Platform offering.

It was unclear whether any deal between Next and Russell & Bromley would involve acquiring the latter’s brand outright or making an investment into the business.

This weekend, Next declined to comment, while neither Russell & Bromley nor Interpath could be reached for comment.

In a statement in October, Mr Bromley said: “We are currently exploring opportunities to help take Russell & Bromley into the next phase of our ‘Re Boot’ vision.

“Since the announcement of the ‘Re Boot’ earlier this year we have made significant progress, positioning us well to build on our momentum and continue along our journey.

“We are looking forward to working with our advisory team to secure the necessary investment to accelerate our expansion plans.”

National Guard troops went door-to-door on Friday to evacuate a farming city north of Seattle as severe flooding in western Washington state put levees at risk.

Days of torrential rain have swelled rivers to record or near-record levels, as flooding has stranded families on rooftops, washed over bridges and ripped homes from their foundations.

Burlington, a city of nearly 10,000 residents near Puget Sound – a large inlet of the Pacific Ocean in northwestern Washington – was placed under a full evacuation order with people told to leave immediately and move to higher ground.

The Skagit River, a major waterway that flows from the Cascade Mountains through the Skagit Valley before emptying into Puget Sound, surged to a record high of nearly 38ft (11.6m) at Mount Vernon, about 10 miles south of Burlington.

“We haven’t seen flooding like this ever,” said Karina Shagren, a spokesperson for the state’s emergency management division, adding that there had been no reports of injuries or missing individuals so far.

National Guard troops and sheriff’s deputies were going door to assist with the evacuations.

Some responders were seen paddling stranded Burlington residents to safety in inflatable river rafts through the muddy floodwaters.

Later on Friday, the evacuation order was lifted for part of the city, Burlington police department spokesperson Michael Lumpkin said.

However, while water levels appeared to ease a little, Mr Lumpkin said “it’s definitely not an all-clear”.

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The intense rainfall was driven by an atmospheric river, a massive stream of moisture drawn from the ocean and carried inland over the Pacific Northwest earlier in the week.

Although rainfall has begun to ease, the National Weather Service has issued a flash-flood warning for the Skagit River basin all the way downstream to its mouth at Puget Sound.

The swollen waters could put enough strain on levees to cause them to fail, the weather service noted.

“Extensive flooding of streets, homes and farmland will be possible” if levees and dikes give way, it said.

The Burlington-Mount Vernon area in Skagit County continues to be the hardest-hit area, facing extensive flooding from days of heavy rainfall stretching from northern Oregon through western Washington and into British Columbia.

National Guard troops were also dispatched to deliver food and check on stranded residents in a number of communities cut off by flooding in adjacent Snohomish County, south of Skagit County.

The flooding washed out or forced the closure of dozens of roads throughout the region, including most of the Canadian highways leading to the port city of Vancouver in British Columbia.

Parts of northern Idaho and western Montana have also been impacted.