Sadiq Khan has declared a "major incident" in the capital due to rising coronavirus cases threatening to overwhelm hospitals.

The mayor said growing infection rates are "putting immense pressure on an already stretched NHS", with the number of people on mechanical ventilators up by 42% - from 640 to 908 - in the week up to 6 January.

There are 7,034 people currently in hospital across London with COVID-19 - 35% higher compared to the first peak of the pandemic in April.

Severe pressure has also spread to other emergency services.

The London Ambulance Service is taking up to 8,000 emergency calls a day now, compared to 5,500 on a typical busy day.

Meanwhile, the UK's R rate - the average number of people someone with coronavirus passes it on to - changed from between 1.1.-1.3 to 1.0-1.4.

Declaring a major incident means that London can call on the government for additional resources to deal with the emergency