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Britain should prepare for a "a large epidemic" of the incurable Zika virus , an expert has warned.

Mosquitoes carrying the disease will swarm to the UK due to global warming, according to the Department of Health .

Chris Whitty, a chief scientific adviser, told MPs the evidence is "unremittingly gloomy".

But he stressed things can be done to manage the Zika virus.

Most of northern Europe is believed to be under threat of the epidemic as the Aedes mosquitoes move away from Africa.

They also can spread yellow fever and other lethal diseases.

"There are huge scientific answers to very many of the problems we face," stressed Mr Whitty in the House of Commons today.

He added there would likely be a vaccine against Zika by the time the insects reach the UK.

But currently pregnant women infected with the disease can give birth to babies with abnormally small heads and brains – an often fatal defect.

The majority of cases in the UK are in those who have travelled to the Caribbean or South America.

The 2015-16 epidemic plagued Brazil and other South America nations.

(Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Libra)

In February 2016, the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Only a handful of cases have been reported in the UK since, all of which were associated with travel.

The most common symptoms of the disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis.