This is the moment a desperate migrant was spotted using a knife to slash the canvas roof of a UK-bound lorry which became stuck in traffic in Calais.

Drivers attempting to board ferries were forced to dodge the desperate man and dozens of other migrants who were attempting to smuggle themselves aboard vehicles entering Britain.

Meanwhile hundreds of migrants poured overnight onto the high-speed railway linking Paris with London, stranding passengers in darkness aboard Eurostar trains.

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Drivers attempting to board ferries at Calais were forced to dodge the man (pictured on the lorry roof) and dozens of other migrants who wanted to smuggle themselves aboard vehicles attempting to enter Britain

The desperate migrant slashed the canvas roof with a knife and dropped himself inside the vehicle

The man was just one of dozens of migrants spotted attempting to enter Britain illegally yesterday

Thousands of miles away, the bodies of other migrants washed up on a Turkish beach.

Photos of a drowned toddler face down in the surf spread quickly across the Internet, yet another searing image from Europe's worst migration crisis since the 1990s Balkan wars.

Outside a Budapest train station, an angry crowd camped out demanding to board trains for Germany, as Europe's asylum system crumbled under the strain of the influx.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing wars, as well as economic migrants escaping poverty, have arrived in the European Union, confounding EU leaders and feeding the rise of right wing populists.

The route between Bodrum and Kos is one of the shortest from Turkey to the Greek islands and thousands of people are boarding rubber dinghies and attempting the perilous sea crossing despite the risks

A tiny boy is cradled in the arms of a Turkish gendarme on a beach in the holiday resort of Bodrum, Turkey

Perilous trip: Although only 13 miles from Bodrum, Turkey, to the Greek island Kos, it is still a dangerous trip

Thousands have drowned in the Mediterranean and many others have died travelling over land, including 71 people found in the back of an abandoned truck in Austria last week.

The EU's executive European Commission promised to unveil a new policy next week to make it easier to process asylum claims, send those from safe countries home and distribute bona fide refugees among the bloc's 28 members.

Meanwhile, authorities have struggled to enforce rules which ordinarily allow free movement within most of the EU but restrict travel by undocumented migrants.

Hundreds took to the tracks around France's Calais-Frethun station, the latest target for those trying to reach Britain, which many regard as a better place to live than countries on the continent.

Rail operator SNCF was forced to halt services near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel. Three Eurostar trains were blocked overnight and eventually continued to London early on Wednesday, while two returned to their departure stations.

Migrants wait to disembark from the British Border Force vessel HMC Protector in Pozzallo harbour, Italy

Passengers on one London-bound train, which stopped less than a mile (1.6 km) from the tunnel, were told at one point to keep quiet and listen for people on the roof. A helicopter with a searchlight circled as guards walked the tracks.

With the power out, passengers sat in stifling darkness for nearly four hours. A woman in business class wept.

Eurostar later pulled the train back to Calais, where passengers disembarked for fresh air and bottled water.

About 3,000 to 4,000 migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa camp near Calais, dodging police as they try to board trains and trucks heading to Britain through the tunnel or on ferries. They have disrupted passenger and freight transport between Britain and France throughout the summer.