Flu cases are skyrocketing, causing huge problems for hospitals, NHS England bosses are warning. Last week the number of patients in hospital in England with the virus topped 5,400 a day on average – around 1,000 higher than a week before.

Multiple hospitals across the country have declared critical incidents after emergency departments were swamped by a surge in winter flu cases. As of Tuesday evening, NHS England confirmed at least a dozen hospitals had declared the health system’s highest alert level as the rise in respiratory cases led to “exceptionally high demands”.

A critical incident has been declared at hospitals in Gloucestershire as all health services face "considerable pressures". Services are "extremely busy" due to a combination of factors including high levels of flu and norovirus, an NHS spokesperson said.

A health boss at a county's NHS that has declared a critical incident said its hospitals had been dealing with high demand for more than a month. The NHS in Northamptonshire said there was mounting pressure on health services,

Several hospitals and NHS trusts across England have declared critical incidents due to sustained pressure on their emergency departments