Hot-air balloons cross Channel for record

Dozens of brightly coloured hot-air balloons soared over the White Cliffs of Dover in an attempt at the largest mass balloon crossing of the English Channel.

Never mind Brexit - the British are heading to France, by balloon.

Dozens of brightly coloured hot-air balloons soared over the White Cliffs of Dover on Friday in an attempt at the largest mass balloon crossing of the English Channel.

The flotilla of about 100 balloons took off just after dawn into uncharacteristically blue skies, heading for Calais.

Guinness World Records says the previous record for a crossing is 49 balloons, set in 2011.

The first balloon crossing of the Channel was made by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Francois Blanchard and American doctor John Jeffries in 1785.