Can the NHS handle ‘unprecedented’ super flu season?
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 11 December 2025
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The NHS is warning of a worst-case scenario over Christmas as an "unprecedented wave of super flu" drives infections across the country.
An average of 2,660 patients were in hospital a day with flu last week - the highest ever for this time of year and up 55% on the week before.
There is no peak in sight - so what's caused the predominant H3N2 strain to emerge and can the NHS cope with the extra pressure?
Niall is joined by NHS GP and health educator Dr Raj Arora and Sky's science correspondent Thomas Moore.
Producer: Tom Gillespie
Editor: Mike Bovill
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sky News, the full story first. |
| 0:08.6 | Coming up, a tsunami of superflu. |
| 0:11.5 | The NHS warns that hospitals could soon be overwhelmed by a particularly virulent strain. |
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| 1:21.3 | If you've been suffering from a particularly bad case of the pre-Christmas sniffles, |
| 1:26.3 | believe me, you're certainly not alone. In fact, |
| 1:28.8 | the latest data from the NHS shows that a new strain of influenza, the flu, is threatening |
| 1:34.6 | to overwhelm our hospitals. Across England, the Health Service says there are enough flu patients |
... |
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