A so-called super flu is spreading and forcing a surge of patients into hospitals across the country - you can see hotspots of the worst affected areas through data complied by the Mirror.

Hospitals are dealing with a super flu nightmare, which some officials branded a "tidal wave of flu" amid fears of chaos on the wards over the festive season. It comes as NHS figures show a spike in the number of people being hospitalised due to the illness.

The latest data ahead of the next release on Thursday said an average of 2,660 patients were admitted to hospital with the flu each day last week - a new record for this time of year. It represented a 55 per cent increase on the week before with ambulance call-outs also rising to 48,814 compared to last year.

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See what areas are worst affected by the nightmare flu

The H3N2 variant mutated into its aggressive form and there are fears it could spread put further strain on the NHS as families gather over Christmas. Experts at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health warned the new strain could kill otherwise healthy children in very rare cases, via complications such as sepsis.

Hospitals could also come under further pressure around Christmas as resident doctors voted to go ahead with a five-day strike in England. The surge in cases has been attributed in part to the flu season starting about a month before instances in the past three months.

Dr Ed Hutchinson, professor of Molecular and Cellular Virology at the University of Glasgow's Centre for Virus Research, previously told the Mirror the new strain acquired several new mutations.

"In temperate climates influenza is mainly a winter illness, caused by three types of influenza virus - H3N2, H1N1 and influenza B virus," he said. "They all continually acquire mutations which mean that our immunity against them goes out of date."

"At the end of this year's flu season in the southern hemisphere (i.e. our summer) the H3N2 strain of the virus suddenly acquired seven new mutations. This is a lot more than normal, and it meant that when the flu season took off in the northern hemisphere we had less protection than normal against the H3N2 component of seasonal flu."

The worst flu symptoms can be reduced by having a vaccination against it. People aged 65 and older, vulnerable people with pre-existing conditions and those who care for them have been urged to get a seasonal vaccine.

It can take 14 days to become affected. Flu typically spreads when infected people come into contact with larger groups.