Weather experts have issued a stark warning over the next coming days.
Millions of Brits are bracing for a sneezing frenzy as the Met Office has warned of high pollen levels sweeping across the nation over the next five days. Weather experts
South West England, London, South East England, and Wales are to be the worst-hit areas. These regions, which have a combined population of 27 million, are to have high birch and ash pollen levels. Birch pollen season typically peaks in spring, between late March and mid-May, and is one of the most potent allergens.
Birch pollen season typically peaks in spring (Image: Getty)
South West England, London and South East England are under a high pollen alert today, this then rises to a very high alert on Friday and Monday and back to a high alert over the weekend.
Meanwhile Wales is under a high pollen alert for Monday and a high alert from today until Sunday.
The Met Office has provided pollen maps for five days ahead. Over the coming days most of England and Wales are under high pollen levels, while Scotland and Northern Ireland display lower counts.
The NHS says symptoms of hayfever include: “Sneezing and coughing, a runny or blocked nose, itchy, red or watery eyes, itchy throat, mouth, nose and ears, loss of smell, pain around the sides of your head and your forehead, headache and feeling tired.”
Met Office pollen alerts for Monday April 7 (Image: Met Office)
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Very high pollen alerts are in place (Image: Getty)
Unfortunately, there is no cure for hay fever but there are ways to mitigate it. The NHS does list some things you can do to ease the symptoms:
- put petroleum jelly (such as Vaseline) around your nostrils to trap pollen
- wear wraparound sunglasses, a mask or a wide-brimmed hat to stop pollen getting into your nose and eyes
- shower and change your clothes after you have been outside to wash pollen off
- keep windows and doors shut as much as possible
- vacuum regularly and dust with a damp cloth
- try to use a pollen filter in the air vents of your car, if you have one, and a HEPA filter in your vacuum cleaner
Over the weekend and into next week the UK can expect “generally fine and settled” weather “with warm sunshine”. “Some low cloud is possible north and east at times. Still breezy south and west”, according to the Met Office‘s long range forecast.
