Population, more people likely to need care all year round, but particularly in the winter . Yes, no getting around the fact people get ill overwinter, but it does sound like this is worse than usual. Speaking about, as Melanie Wasjust saying, record numbers of people in ambulances turned away from hospital as they do not have resources to help them. In record breaking territory, that does not sound good. One of the interesting elements of the story in the telegraph is they are speaking about trying to encourage hospitals not to talk about this in overly alarming terms, not to speak about, what do they cold, black alerts . The guardian speaking about how the red cross is saying the nhs needs to take action to make sure we are taking better ca re of to make sure we are taking better care of people. Terms like red cross and black alert in relation to the nhs, nota and black alert in relation to the nhs, not a good look. In addition, some of the stories, looking at individual stories, lyi