Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, calls on the government to do the "decent thing" and address pay this year.

"What a tragic day. This is a tragic day for nursing, it’s a tragic day for patients. It’s a tragic day for this society and our NHS," she tells BBC Breakfast.

"It’s tragic that this government has decided not to speak to us, get into a room and avert these strikes."

She adds that vital treatment including chemotherapy and dialysis will continue today and paediatric A&Es will remain open.

"Nurses aren’t reckless people, we will continue to provide safe care today to our patients," she says.

"If we are going to stop the drain out of our profession … please do the decent thing - address pay this year and then we’ll get down to talk about next year."

Let's take a look at the pay dispute behind these strikes.

The strikes could be called off if the health secretary negotiates "seriously" over pay, the Royal College of Nursing says.

But the Department of Health and Social Care says the government has accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body in full, meaning newly qualified nurses had a 5.5% increase while those on the lowest salaries, such as porters and cleaners, received a pay rise of up to 9.3%.

Jerry Cope, former chair of the NHS Pay Review Body, believes ministers should ask the body to reconsider their recommendations due to the huge rise in inflation.

"I think it’s a way out because it respects the integrity of the pay review body," Cope tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The pay review body may say to ministers: 'No we considered everything fully last time, we don’t wish to add anything.'

"But if it’s to be a fair and independent process in these extraordinary circumstances we’ve got at the moment, I think it does probably require a slightly left-of-field approach," he says, adding that the body is "fiercely independent".

Image source, PA Media

Under trade union laws, life-preserving care has to be provided.

Therefore, all nursing staff would be expected to work in services such as intensive care.

In a letter to NHS bosses, external earlier this month, the RCN confirmed chemotherapy, dialysis, or intensive care services will not be hit by the strike action.

However, it said other services which do not meet this criteria may be reduced to a “Christmas Day” or “night duty” staffing level.

Details will be negotiated by local service managers and union representatives.

It is also possible that nurses could be pulled off picket lines to work if there are safety concerns during a strike.

Routine services - including planned operations such as knee and hip replacements, community nursing services and health visiting - are expected to be badly affected.

Nurses in Wales have just started striking - those in parts of England and Northern Ireland will join the picket lines in just under an hour's time at 8am.

Sarah, a nurse at University Hospital Wales in Cardiff, says: "I don't think any of us want to be here ths morning and this is a dispute over pay but it's more than that.

"It's about safe staffing, it's about attracting new nurses into the profession and that is essentially why we are here this morning."

Nick Eardley
Chief political correspondent

It's hard to see at the moment how this dispute is resolved.

The government (which remember is negotiating for the NHS in England here) is adamant it can't afford the pay demands of nurses. It says any extra money for pay would mean taking resources away from other parts of the NHS.

There is also a fear that if one part of the public sector gets a significant pay rise, others would demand the same.

But cost of living pressures are significant - and the Royal College of Nursing believes the Govt has to go further to ensure its members have a decent standard of living.

Both sides say they want to keep talking. The problem is, when they get around the table they are talking about different things. The government will only discuss conditions and won't revisit this year's pay offer. The RCN says that's got to be on the table.

That's how we got to today's unprecedented strike. It's also why a solution is difficult to see unless one side shifts their position.

Overall, around a quarter of hospitals and community teams in England and nearly all those in Northern Ireland and Wales will see nurses walkout on 15 and 20 December.

In total, more than 70 NHS organisations will see strike action.

All the health boards in Northern Ireland and all-but-one in Wales, the Aneurin Bevan, will see strike action take place.

Emergency care will continue to be provided during the walkouts. GP services will be unaffected as nurses working in practices were not entitled to take part in the ballot.

Strike action has been suspended in Scotland after ministers there made a fresh pay offer. It has been accepted by some unions, but others like the RCN are still consulting members.

The strike ballot was sent to 300,000 RCN members - representing around two-thirds of the nurse workforce.

And because a series of individual ballots were held at NHS trusts and boards rather than one national ballot, nurses at more than 40% of England's hospitals, mental health and community services are not entitled to strike because the turnout was too low in those votes.

Image source, Getty Images

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is calling for a rise of 5% above the RPI inflation rate, which is currently above 14%.

That would mean more than a 19% pay rise, which the government has said is unaffordable.

NHS staff in England and Wales - including nurses - have been given an average increase of 4.75%. The lowest paid were guaranteed a rise of at least £1,400.

In Northern Ireland, nurses have now been told they will receive the same pay award and the increase will be back-dated, external.

In Scotland, NHS staff were initially offered 5%, which was later changed to a flat rate of just over £2,200 - and was rejected by the RCN.

An improved pay offer averaging 7.5% has since been made and has been accepted by some unions.

Others, including the RCN, are still considering it.

The RCN says this year's below-inflation pay award followed years of squeezes on nurses' salaries. It says average pay for nurses fell by 6% between 2011 and 2021 - once inflation is taken into account - compared with a 4.6% drop across the whole UK workforce.

The RCN says this is compromising care, because it means the NHS is struggling to attract and retain nurses.

But the government has said that this year's pay rise is in line with what the independent NHS Pay Review Body recommended.

Read more here.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage as nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland go on strike for the first of two days this month - considered the biggest industrial action in the NHS’s history.

The walkout follows a dispute with the government over pay and will involve members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in more than half of hospitals and community teams.

Nurses will still provide life-preserving care, but other services, such as some cancer treatment or urgent testing, may be partially staffed.

Routine services - including planned operations such as knee and hip replacements - are expected to be badly affected.

The second strike will take place in five days’ time - on 20 December.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest developments throughout the day.