Spring here at last – and so is the sneezing

Warm weather at last may have brought joy to sun lovers but has ushered in misery for millions of hay fever sufferers.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Apr 2010, 00:05 BST
Updated 29th Apr 2010, 00:05 BST

Tree pollens usually kick off sneezing, runny noses and red eyes for sufferers in late March or the beginning of April, a spokeswoman for the charity Allergy UK said yesterday.

But this year the cold winter meant the season did not get under way until mid April.

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"Because of the very cold winter, experts reckon that the spring has been delayed a little bit," she said.

"With hay fever, different pollens affect you at different times of

year and the ones that tend to start it off are the tree pollens.

"Because everything is only just starting to come into flower now people's hay fever symptoms are starting a little bit later."

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The hay fever season starts with tree pollens, followed by pollens from grass and weeds.

Allergy UK is advising the UK's 15 million hay fever sufferers to think ahead and start taking treatments such as antihistamines and eye drops.