Flu has been around aeons though (to say the least!), so remember that when drawing comparisons
Yes this is more worrying than the flu for a few reasons
1. It's new, we have no immunity to it
2. VERY transmissible. Looks like it can be infectious pre, during and post symptoms. One person infects 4 others on average (in Wuhan anyway) and it may be able to survive on surfaces without a host for 5 days.
3. High chance of pneumonia or other complications (20% is what I've heard) even higher if elderly, with pre-existing conditions or a weakened immune system.
4. Mortality rate (as far as we know) is 2/3%, although China may be underreporting this given reports/videos from people in Wuhan. It's lower than SARS but given the transmissibility has the potential to kill many more people.
If it gets out of control over here then there will be a lot of people requiring oxygen, and the NHS won't be able to treat everyone. It remains to be seen if China have responded fast enough with their quarantine efforts.