A map reveals NHS hospitals with the highest flu cases as a record-breaking outbreak sweeps across the country
18:33, 11 Dec 2025Updated 18:42, 11 Dec 2025
Children under five are particularly at risk(Image: Shared Content Unit)
A map shows the NHS hospitals under strain from record super flu cases as the health service identifies those most at risk from the “nasty” strain.
NHS England is urging people to get the flu jab as it faces its “worst-case scenario for this time of year”, NHS national medical director Meghana Pandit said today. The new strain of seasonal influenza A, H3N2, is driving an unusually early and severe flu season because there is “less natural immunity in the community”, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned. “H3N2 flu strains typically affect older adults more severely than H1N1 strains, leading to more hospitalisations and deaths, creating further pressure on our NHS this winter.”
An average of 2,660 patients were hospitalised with flu each day last week – the highest ever for this time of year. This is a 55 per cent jump from the previous week and 43 per cent higher than the same point in 2024, when the figure stood at 1,861. The latest number is nearly seven times higher than in 2023, when it was just 402. Some 106 flu patients were in critical care beds in England last week, up from 69 the week before – also a record number for this time of the year. The country is facing a “very nasty strain of flu” that has arrived earlier in the season than usual, Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said.
Full list of NHS England Hospitals with the most flu patients:Birmingham (University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust) – 217 bedsManchester (Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust) – 109 bedsEast London (Barts Health NHS Trust) – 85 bedsStoke on Trent (University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust) – 83 bedsSheffield (Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) – 72 bedsLeeds (Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust) – 65 bedsDarlington (County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust) – 50 bedsNorth Tyneside (Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust) – 46 bedsNorth London (Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust) – 45 bedsCamberley (Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust) – 45 bedsCoventry (University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust) – 44 bedsHuddersfield (Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust) – 45 bedsGrimsby (Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust) – 45 bedsWakefield (Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust) – 43 bedsLeicester (University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust) – 42 bedsBlackpool (Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) – 43 bedsSE London (King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) – 41 bedsLuton (Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) – 41 bedsDartford (Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust) – 40 bedsHartlepool (North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust) – 38 bedsWho is most vulnerable – and have they been jabbed?
The groups most at risk from flu are older adults and young children, the UKHSA has warned.
New data shows hospital admission rates for flu are highest among people over 75 and children under five in England.
Last week, the rate for those over 85 was 57.2 per 100,000, up from 47.8 the week before. People aged 75 to 84 had a rate of 28.9, up from 23.0, while children under five saw a rise to 22.4 per 100,000, up from 19.0.
Vaccination rates vary widely. Some 71.7 per cent of people aged 65 and over are estimated to have had this year’s flu jab in England as of December 7, according to UKHSA data.
But uptake is much lower in other high-risk groups: just 37.4 per cent of under-65s with underlying health conditions, 35.6 per cent of pregnant women and 41.9 per cent of kids aged two or three have been vaccinated.