UNITED NATIONS, Safar 20, 1437, December 02, 2015, SPA -- The United Nations said Tuesday that the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe fell by more than a third last month because of poor weather and a Turkish crackdown on traffickers. Roughly 140,000 migrants and refugees made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe in November, marking a 36.5 percent drop from October, when a record 220,535 arrived in Europe, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said. “It’s the first [month] this year that actually shows a decrease compared to the previous one,” UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told reporters in Geneva. “It’s a big drop,” Spindler said, but he stressed that “the figures are still very high.” Spindler said that last month’s slowdown was linked to “fluctuating climate conditions in the Aegean but also a crackdown on smuggling by Turkish authorities. According to the latest U.N. figures, more than 886,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year. --SPA 11:54 LOCAL TIME 08:54 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w