It Might Get Rough For UK In Winter

PM warns of extra pressures ahead as expert says flu could be an even bigger problem than pandemic

THE UK faces a “rough winter” ahead if yet more variants of the coronavirus emerge, Boris Johnson warned yesterday.

The Prime Minister, who hit out at “doomsters” and “gloomsters” when he took on the top job in 2019, said: “You can never exclude that there will be some new disease or some new horror that we haven’t budgeted for.”

Johnson also hinted that future rules may be needed if new variants flare-up, putting the NHS under more strain.

“We may have a rough winter, for all sorts of reasons, and there are big pressures on the NHS,” he added.

Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Government’s advisory committee on vaccination, suggested flu could be an even bigger problem this winter than Covid.

He warned that flu immunity is likely to have dropped in the population because of lockdown, and it could come “back to bite us”.