Health authorities will be pushed to its limits by a ‘twindemic’ of Covid and flu cases this winter according to the report. It comes amid warnings Europe is set for a ‘severe’ flu season after last winter’s lockdowns eliminated flu transmission causing immunity to be lower than usual.

       The new modelling from health analytics firm Airfinity found, in a worst case scenario, the NHS could hit capacity by late January.

       This is expected if flu cases follow the same pattern as the last severe outbreak in 2017-18 when almost 50,000 flu cases were reported and hospital admissions peaked at 6,100 in a week.

       If this is the case, and Covid admissions continue to hover at between 6,000 and 7,000 a week, the UK will hit the “lockdown threshold” just after Christmas.

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       Dr Matt Linley, lead analyst at Airfinity, told the Telegraph: “Vaccines are doing a great job at keeping Covid hospitalisations down, but admissions are unlikely to drop significantly during winter as people are more likely to meet indoors.

       “Flu is back, and the consensus is that this year’s flu resurgence is expected to be severe and we could see up to 6,100 hospitalisations a week for flu alone.”

       On Tuesday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned that the upcoming flu season could be severe for the elderly and vulnerable.

       The health agency said that, although the number of reported flu cases across Europe remains low, cases in Croatia have surpassed the seasonal threshold “unusually early”.

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