A GP has raised urgent concerns about the  ‘super flu’ that is causing chaos throughout the NHS.

Dr Nighat Arif addressed the crisis during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning.

She detailed what super flu entails whilst explaining why it’s causing such catastrophic effects across the UK at present.

During the week preceding Sunday, hospitals recorded an average of 2,660 flu cases daily, with NHS England stating this equated to three entire hospitals filled with flu patients.

Concerns are mounting that a five-day junior doctors’ strike, scheduled to commence on Wednesday, December 17, could exacerbate the crisis further.

Recent NHS statistics cautioned that the health service might encounter a ‘worst-case scenario’ following a dramatic surge in cases with no peak visible.

“The superflu has been around for a bit longer than we wanted it to. It’s the same type of flu we get every year,” Dr Arif explained.

“It’s H3N2, and it’s a subclade K, so sometimes termed as the K flu as well. It’s basically a more virulent form of influenza A.

“Every year, we get normal bugs, viruses, we get influenza, we get Covid, we get the winter diarrhoea and vomiting bug. This is part of that picture, but what is different this year – and why it’s been termed the super flu – is because it’s come a little bit earlier.

“I think that is because the weather has played a huge part in that. I also think we haven’t been well prepared for it because we didn’t think it would coincide with the weather so much.

“And then the uptake and the messaging – the public health messaging of, ‘go and get yourself a vaccine or stay indoors if you’re still sick’ has just been delayed a little bit, so that is why we’ve had this surge of cases.

“We get variations of the H3N2. We get the SARS virus, it mutates. Every year, we make a preparation for that, so that is why we say early preparation is so important.”

When asked about how the public can safeguard themselves and reduce strain on an overwhelmed NHS, Dr Arif continued: “NHS cases are up 50 per cent, and that is because what we are seeing is that, as I said earlier, people just weren’t prepared for it in the way we had to be, so all that public health messaging that we had back in the pandemic of making sure you wash your hands and ventilate – these viruses are airborne.

“If you are in a place, make sure you have your filters in, make sure there’s good ventilation, cough into your elbow, make sure you cough into a tissue and you are putting it in the bin, wash your hands and wear masks as well. You have to make sure you are thinking about protecting yourself when you are out and about because sometimes the symptoms aren’t there, but people are still going out and about and mixing. The other thing is that, if you are unwell, stay indoors and self-isolate.”

Hospital admissions for flu have reached their peak level for this period of the year since monitoring commenced – though records only extend back to 2021 and therefore don’t include the two most severe flu outbreaks of the last 15 years, which occurred in 2014/15 and 2017/18.

Authorities reported that cases had kept climbing during the week, with concerns they might exceed 5,000 by the weekend.