The NHS booking website is being hit by problems today as thousands rush to book a Covid booster jab.

People attempting to book a vaccine appointment online are being met with error messages or warnings of long queues as the NHS website struggles to process the numbers taking up the offer of a vaccine.

Ashford GP Dr Jack Jacobs talks about the PM's emergency booster drive

Households trying to order boxes of lateral flow tests ahead of plans to make close contacts of Covid cases test daily from tomorrow are also experiencing problems trying to request a batch.

The website stating it has run out of home test kits and to come back later.

The government has begun expanding the booster roll-out programme to everyone aged 18 and over in the UK as of today.

It comes after Boris Johnson issued a stark warning over the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in a nationwide broadcast on Sunday night.

The Prime Minister has said he intends to have offered a jab to every adult in England by New Year's Eve but warns that routine appointments or some procedures may have to be cancelled to create space in the system.

Patients wanting a third jab - or those who wish to take up the offer of a first or second coronavirus vaccine - should be able to book through the website nhs.uk using their NHS number or personal details.

But since early this morning error messages warning of 'technical difficulties' are repeatedly appearing on the booking page or people are entering a queue only for the booking system to crash.

At one point shortly before 10am the website said there were more than 10,000 waiting in a virtual queue before the online page timed out.

The information on the site has been updated to welcome everyone over the age of 30 for an online appointment - alternatively walk-in clinics are also available for those to those over 18 willing and able to stand and wait their turn.

Walk-in clinics in Kent

With a huge surge in demand predicted there are currently only four hubs across Kent and Medway offering walk-in appointments this week.

According to the NHS Kent and Medway CCG website, two hubs in the east and two in the west of the county are currently offering jabs without pre-booked appointments, with only half that number operating on a weekend day.

Extra sites are expected to be opened across the country in the coming days, with the military drafted in and clinic opening hours extended to try and meet demand, but it is not known when this will take effect.

Scroll down for the list of clinics, opening times and who is eligible.

All four Kent hubs will be offering booster jabs to everyone over 18, as well as first or second jabs to anyone aged 16 or over, with two, in Canterbury and Swanley, also offering them to anyone aged 12 and over.

Today's move comes after the target for giving every adult a booster jab was brought forward by a month over fears of a “tidal wave of Omicron” that could cause “very many deaths”.

Anyone aged 30 and over is able to book a booster appointment to get a jab from today, while those aged 18-29 will be able to book a booster from Wednesday.

The Prime Minister, in a pre-recorded address to the nation yesterday, said Britain “must urgently reinforce our wall of vaccine protection” as he set the new deadline of jabbing everyone over 18 by the new year.

'To hit the pace we need, we’ll need to match the NHS’s best vaccination day so far – and then beat that day after day.'

He said scientists had discovered that two doses of a vaccine is “simply not enough” to prevent the spread of the new variant and that, without a lightning speed mass booster campaign, the NHS could be overwhelmed.

Mr Johnson said: “To hit the pace we need, we’ll need to match the NHS’s best vaccination day so far – and then beat that day after day. This will require an extraordinary effort.

“And as we focus on boosters and make this new target achievable, it will mean some other appointments will need to be postponed until the new year.

“But if we don’t do this now, the wave of Omicron could be so big that cancellations and disruptions, like the loss of cancer appointments, would be even greater next year.”

The mission to administer millions more jabs by December 31 will see 42 military planning teams deployed across every health region.

The highest number of vaccinations reported in one day in the UK was 844,285 on March 20 2021 – equivalent to vaccinating the entire population of Liverpool in one day, according to the Government website.

The vaccine hubs currently offering walk-in jabs in Kent, including boosters, are:

Sea Cadets hub, Vauxhall Road, Canterbury, CT1 1ZN, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm, for anyone aged 12 and over.

Sevenoaks Pharmacy, 42 Dartford Rd, Sevenoaks TN13 3TQ, Monday to Friday, 9am to noon and then 1pm to 4pm, for anyone aged 16 and over.

Saga Building, Holmes Way, Ramsgate, Kent, CT12 5ZW, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 8am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm, for anyone aged 16 and over.

South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay tweeted to say the centre will also be open on Wednesday with the same timings, but this has not been confirmed on the CCG website.

St Mary's Church Hall, St Mary’s Church, Corner of London Road/St Mary’s Road, Swanley, BR8 7BU, Wednesday 9am to 6pm, Thursday 9am to 7.45pm, Friday 9am to 6pm, Saturday 8am to 2pm, Sunday 12.30pm to 7.45pm, for anyone aged 12 and over.