NHS bosses have warned a ‘perfect storm’ of -16°C blizzards, norovirus and flu is piling pressure on over-stretched hospitals.
Performance statistics show sub-zero temperatures, icy blasts and blizzard-like conditions hit A&E departments across the country hard last week.
Bed occupancies remain worryingly high and show no sign of falling to safe levels amid the ‘worst winter ever’, with more cold weather expected.
Storm Emma, rolling in from the Atlantic, is meeting the Beast from the East’s chilly Russia air – causing further widespread snowfall and bitter temperatures.
Dr Nick Scriven, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said the severe weather is an added burden on top of the recent ‘usual’ winter.
An abandoned vehicle is surrounded by several feet of snow in Saddleworth, Greater Manchester, this morning
He warned dozens of hospitals are likely to be forced to cancel routine procedures, while the NHS said children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses are at risk of the cold weather.
Dr Scriven added: ‘Today and the next few days will particularly stretch trusts, with staff struggling to get to work and ambulance trusts having immense problems getting patients to and from hospital.
‘A lot of hospitals will cancel routine work over the next few days as a consequence of both of these.
‘Overall NHS staff are pulling together and making immense efforts to keep people our hospitals safe.’
It comes as the National Grid has warned it may not have enough gas to meet demand in Britain today, after the mercury fell as low as -16C (3F) last night.
While the treacherous conditions left drivers stranded for more than 13 hours and airport passengers stuck.
Two police officers become stuck in a snow drift on the A904 just outside Bo’ness in West Lothian this morning
Commuters are battered by snow in Edinburgh today as the Scottish capital faces a red Met Office weather warning
The Met Office has put England under a red weather warning for snow for the first time ever, amid concerns that up to 1ft 8in could fall in the South West.
On the first day of meteorological spring today, temperatures will drop to -11C (12F) during the day as Scotland also remains under a ‘red alert’.
The NHS has also been affected by the weather, which has battered Britain this week.
The latest data shows more than 12,300 patients had to wait longer than 30 minutes to be seen after arriving at A&E units in ambulances last week.
And more than 2,870 patients had to wait more than an hour, both down on the week before.
There were 13 cases of ambulances being diverted away from A&E departments last week.
While the number of bed closures due to norovirus, or diarrhoea and vomiting, rose from an average of 841 beds to 949 beds closed per day.
A man walking in snowy conditions in Larbert, Falkirk, as Storm Emma rolls in to Britain from France and Portugal today
A motorist tweeted this picture from the M80 near Glasgow this morning, saying she was ‘starving and running out of fuel’
An NHS England spokesman said: ‘Dedicated NHS staff continue to work hard in the face of a “perfect storm” of appalling weather, persistently high flu hospitalisations and a renewed spike in norovirus.
‘With the severe conditions expected to continue, we ask patients and their families to bear with us as we seek to minimise any disruption.’
The latest figures from Public Health England (PHE) show there were 20 flu-related deaths reported in the week ending February 11, bringing the total to 271.
While there was also 150 new confirmed cases reported in intensive care or high dependency units.
Dr Scriven added: ‘The latest weekly performance figures provide stark reading, with 18,000 patients in hospital for more than 21 days and bed occupancy still at 95 per cent.
‘The National Emergency Pressures Panel met this week and issued a thank you and acknowledged worst winter ever with weeks more to go but no real practical help.
‘There have been no words from the Secretary of State regarding the NHS going the extra mile in this weather, yet we find ourselves in the midst of extreme conditions which have piled the pressure on our already-stretched hospitals.
‘This week really has shown the passion, dedication, commitment and care of staff in our acute medical units and throughout hospitals in the most testing of conditions.’
A dog walker makes her way through deep snow in Middleton in Teesdale today, with the County Durham town now cut off
A stranded car covered in snow in Whitley Bay in Tyne and Wear this morning as Storm Emma rolls in from the Atlantic