Threat Level raised to 5

The World Health Organisation tonight raised its global epidemic threat level to phase five. The next phase, six, is a full-blown pandemic, characterised by outbreaks in at least two regions of the world.

Five people in the UK were now confirmed as having been infected with swine flu. They included three people who returned on the same charter flight from Cancun in Mexico: a 12-year-old girl from Torbay and a couple from Polmont in Scotland who had been on honeymoon.

The Latest map of the spread