THE ambulance service has announced a move from its critical status, but warns that pressure will continue for the next few days.

The service is now at "business continuity" status.

"The pressure we have been facing has eased but not gone away and we are expecting the next few days to remain very challenging," the service tweeted.

This will be due to soaring temperatures and the pressures that led to an incident being declared.

University Hospital Southampton is also experiencing "a record high number of visitors".

On Monday, South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) announced a critical incident due to mounting pressure.

READ MORE: Ambulance service declares critical incident as pressure on resources mounts

The service said that this was due to rising 999 calls, busy hospitals, another rise in Covid infections, as well as the hot weather.

SCAS praised the work of its staff, and advised patients to avoid calling 999 unless for "life-threatening or serious emergencies".

The public is urged to contact NHS 111 for urgent medical problems, or use local urgent treatment centres, GPs and pharmacies.

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