LEP physics: an overview

This article summarises recent results obtained by the four experiments ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL at the LEP e/sup +/e/sup -/ collider. The experimental results discussed here comprise a summary of the measurements of electroweak observables at the Z resonance, the measurement of W-pair production from the threshold up to square root s=183 GeV and results from the searches for Higgs bosons and supersymmetric particles at these highest energies attained in e/sup +/e/sup $/collisions. The majority of the data discussed here is preliminary and reflects the status at the time of the conference. (18 refs).