London Prepared update

Seasonal Influenza Update

The latest figures from Public Health England (PHE) indicate flu is now circulating in the community, with increases seen for several indicators in particular influenza confirmed hospitalisations amongst younger adults.

Virus surveillance from the UK and elsewhere in Europe shows the strain A(H1N1)pdm09 is now the main seasonal flu virus, the viruses characterised so far this season are well-matched to the vaccine strain.

Previous flu seasons dominated by A(H1N1)pdm09 suggest this strain particularly affects children, pregnant women, and adults with long term conditions like chronic heart disease, liver disease, neurological disease and respiratory disease in particular.

Public Health England requests that all organisations remind their staff that It’s not too late for children and people in ‘at risk’ groups to get the vaccine for free, and this remains important now that flu is circulating. This includes people with underlying health conditions, even those that are well managed, such as asthma, diabetes, heart, lung, liver or renal diseases, those with weakened immune systems, as well as older people and pregnant women. We would also encourage that they share this information with friends, family and neighbours who may be eligible.

You can book your seasonal flu vaccination at a local participating pharmacy in London using the London Flu website.

Exercise Unified Response

We visited the exercise site earlier in the week – it’s going to be a really realistic and challenging exercise. The exercise project team have just released a really good introductory video which you can view below.

Met Office

Remaining generally unsettled for London over the coming days with showery, occasionally heavy/thundery rain and breezy conditions at times, especially during Saturday afternoon. However no significant resilience issues are expected at this stage.

Looking further ahead, there will be a trend towards colder conditions through next week, with any precipitation having the potential to fall as sleet or snow from around mid-week.

There are currently no weather alerts or warnings in force for London. View all weather Alerts and Warnings on the Met Office website.

Get Ready for Winter campaign:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/get-ready-for-winter.

Environment Agency

Rivers are all quite high at the moment and the soil moisture deficit is currently at zero meaning any heavy rainfall will cause river levels to rise quickly. Groundwater is still slightly below average levels for this time of year. Flood Guidance statement currently GREEN for London.

• Middle River Roding flood alert currently in force. This touches into London slightly in Redbridge but the main impactsare expected to be in Essex.
• Flood alerts are both currently in force for the Chertsey Bourne flood and River Mole and its tributaries from Kinnersley Manor to South Hersham. These are outside of London boundaries within Surrey, but could impact on people commuting home this evening.

The Live EA Flood Warnings Map has up to date information on river and tidal flooding.

Air Pollution

Air pollution levels are forecast to be Low.

Terriorist Threat Levels

The threat levels are unchanged

• International terrorism – Severe (an attack is highly likely).

• Northern Ireland related terrorism to Great Britain – Moderate (an attack is possible but not likely).

That's it for this week, have a safe weekend

Hamish, London Resilience Manager