Britain is being battered by a tidal wave of festive flu, health chiefs warned today.
Surveillance programmes that monitor the UK’s outbreak suggest flu hospital admissions in England are more than double last year over the same time period and ten times higher than 2023.
Figures show an average of 1,717 beds alone were taken up by flu patients each day last week, up on the 1,098 in 2024 and 160 in 2023.
Of these, 69 were in critical care — almost double the 39 logged last year.
Health leaders have already warned that the UK could be facing the worst flu season for decades.
They now fear the unprecedented outbreak will continue to pick up pace in the coming weeks as a result of more people socialising indoors over Christmas and the New Year.
NHS officials urged people with coughs, sore throats or a runny nose to limit contact with vulnerable groups — such as the elderly, pregnant women and those with underlying conditions — over fears they could become seriously unwell with the virus.
But it also comes just days before resident doctors plan to strike for five consecutive days amid a row over pay and conditions.
Thousands of medics — previously known as junior doctors — will walk out from December 17 until December 22.
Professor Julian Redhead, NHS England’s national medical director for urgent and emergency care, said: ‘Today’s numbers confirm our deepest concerns: the health service is bracing for an unprecedented flu wave this winter.
‘Cases are incredibly high for this time of year and there is no peak in sight yet.
‘The NHS has prepared earlier for winter than ever before, but despite that we know that ballooning flu cases coinciding with strikes may stretch our staff close to breaking point in the coming weeks.
‘There have never been more ways for people can get the care they need, so for non-life-threatening care, people should call NHS 111 or use 111 online, which can direct you to the most appropriate place.
‘As always, use A&E & 999 for life threatening conditions and serious injuries, and with just a couple of weeks left to ensure maximum immunity from flu for Christmas day, I urge anyone eligible to come forward to get their jab.’
Health secretary Wes Streeting, added: ‘Winter is a hard time for the NHS, but because we acted earlier than ever we’re seeing progress.
‘This progress is being put in real jeopardy by the BMA’s leadership, whose reckless behaviour to time industrial action at the height of winter, will put more patients are risk and bear down hard on their NHS colleagues in the run up to Christmas.
‘We will do all we can to we can to weather this storm.
‘I am determined that with the proper planning, record investment and modernisation this government is bringing in, we’ll have a more resilient NHS for this winter and beyond.’
The figures have been published by the NHS as part of its first weekly snapshot of the performance of hospitals in England this winter.
According to the data, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust saw the highest number of flu hospitalisations last week, with 178 beds occupied.
Of these five were in critical care.
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust and Barts Health NHS Trust followed, with both recording 84 occupied beds.
The troublesome mutant H3N2 flu strain is believed to be more infectious and leading to more severe illness and hospital admissions than last year.
Professor Nicola Lewis, the director of the World Influenza Centre at the Francis Crick Institute, said: ‘We haven’t seen a virus like this for a while, these dynamics are unusual.
‘H3 is always a hotter virus, it’s a nastier virus, it’s more impactful on the population.’
Cases across Scotland have also risen by 45 per cent in a week, up from 555 to 805 laboratory-confirmed cases, official figures show.
The infection rate stood at 14.5 per 100,000 people — an increase from 10 per 100,000 the previous week, according to Public Health Scotland (PHS).
PHS reports that all age groups are now affected at levels not previously seen at this time of year.
Earlier this week, the London Ambulance Service also revealed it had seen its three busiest days of 2025 in a row.
The service said the 20 per cent increase included more calls from people in the capital with breathing difficulties due to viral infections and respiratory illnesses such as the flu.
Since September, health officials have urged the millions eligible to come forward for their Covid and flu jabs, to reduce their risk of becoming severely unwell and needing hospital care.
People who are aged over 65, those with long term health conditions, pregnant women, care home residents and carers are eligible for a free jab.
There are signs that calls for eligible Brits to roll up their sleeves and get jabbed have been heard, with almost 17 million vaccines now administered in England.
The NHS England figures today also found that NHS 111 received 11,338 more calls than the same week last year.
An average of 261 adult hospital beds were filled last week by patients with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms, data showed.
This is a reduction on the 751 over the same point last year. 2024 saw the worst year on record for norovirus cases.
Three in ten patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week also waited at least 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams, with one in ten waiting over an hour.
