There has been an increase in cases of a potentially lethal disease which causes a high fever, rashes and conjunctivitis. Here are the hotspots.
Measles often presents as a rash with cold-like symptoms (Image: Getty)
A disease once considered eliminated in the UK has seen a rise in cases across Britain and Europe. Measles, a Victorian-era disease which is known to mostly affect young children, has seen a spike in cases. In January this year, the UK lost its measles-free status, as the number of cases reported in 2025 showed an alarming increase. Measles presents one to two weeks after it is contracted, and usual symptoms include rashy spots, a high fever, a cough and watery and red eyes.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) stripped the UK of its elimination status as the cases spread around the country continuously for a year. The UK was declared measles-free in 2017 but lost the status in 2019, regaining it again in 2023. An increase was also recorded across the European Union, sparking concerns for British tourists travelling to European holiday hotspots with children. A high number of cases were reported in holiday favourites such as France and Spain, while countries like Finland had extremely low numbers.
In the UK between January 2025 and January 2026, Hackney in London was the council area with the most confirmed measles cases, with a total of 133. The measles hotspots in the UK over that 12-month period were:
- Hackney, London – 133 cases
- Birmingham – 52 cases
- Bristol – 47 cases
- Salford – 42 cases
- Haringey, London – 34 cases
- Camden, London – 33 cases
- Croydon, London – 31 cases
- Newham, London – 30 cases
- Leeds – 29 cases
- Islington, London – 25 cases
- Hertfordshire – 24 cases
- Essex – 22 cases
- Harrow, London – 21 cases
- Lewisham, London – 21 cases
- Bradford – 20 cases
- Knowsley – 19 cases
- Manchester – 19 cases
- Waltham Forest, London – 18 cases
- Barnet, London – 16 cases
- Enfield, London – 14 cases
- Wandsworth, London – 12 cases
- Southwark, London – 11 cases
- Staffordshire – 11 cases
- Barking and Dagenham, London – 10 cases
- Brent, London – 10 cases
- Cheshire West and Chester – 10 cases
This list was compiled using data recently released by the UK Health Security Agency. It said that measles case numbers started to increase in April 2025, with outbreaks particularly affecting London and the North West regions.
Measles usually only affects children (Image: Getty)
In total, there have been 957 laboratory-confirmed measles cases reported in England since January 2025. While the number is high enough for the country to lose its elimination status, it is a significant decrease from 2024’s 2,911 laboratory-confirmed measles cases.
In Europe, the EU country with the highest number of measles cases in 2025 was Romania, with 4,198. It leads by a considerable amount, and is followed on the list by France with 877 confirmed cases last year.
The Netherlands followed in third place with 534 cases. Meanwhile, Italy recorded 529 cases, Spain recorded 426, and Belgium recorded 393.
As well as the UK, Spain and Austria lost their measles-free status.
68% of the cases recorded in England last year were in children aged 10 years and under, and 25% (242 of 957) were in young people and adults aged 15 years and over. Meanwhile, more than half the cases were in London.
According to the NHS, measles usually starts off with cold-like symptoms, such as a cough. However, further health problems can develop if the disease spreads to other parts of the body, such as pneumonia, meningitis, blindness, seizures (fits), though these scenarios are rare.
Vaccines against measles are widespread. You are unlikely to suffer from measles if you have had both doses of the MMRV or MMR vaccine or you’ve had measles before.
However, it appears that flailing vaccination take-up is fuelling the spread of the disease. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reports that nearly eight in ten of the 7,000-plus cases with known vaccination status were unvaccinated.
Figures show that 10.3% had received one dose of the vaccine, 7.9% had two or more doses, and 1.7% had an unknown vaccination history.
