All nine regions of England have been hit with red warnings for 'very high' pollen levels today, according to the Met Office — spelling bad news for hay fever sufferers.
An interactive tool shows all areas of England are facing ‘very high’ levels of birch pollen on Saturday, April 12.
Tomorrow (Sunday), red warnings will ease in Wales and the north of England, but they will remain in place for London, the Midlands and southern England until at least Tuesday, April 15.
Scotland has so far avoided the worst of the warnings, though most regions are experiencing 'high' pollen levels today, expected to fall to 'medium' by tomorrow.
The Met Office predicts pollen counts using specialised instruments along with other weather data to estimate the spread and concentration of pollen in the air.
The national forecaster states: “Hay fever symptoms usually appear when the pollen count, which is a measure of the number of grains of pollen in one cubic metre of air, exceeds 50. A count of 50 pollen grains or less is considered low whilst anything above 1,000 is deemed high.”
The warning comes on one of the warmest days of the year so far, with temperatures reaching a balmy 23C in London following a week of continuous sunshine.
However, conditions are expected to cool next week — falling to 18C in London on Sunday and hovering between 15C and 18C in the following days.
The hottest day of 2024 so far was April 4, when temperatures reached 23.7C in Otterbourne, Hampshire.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has urged caution, warning that the risk of wildfires is “heightened” due to low rainfall and dry vegetation.
LFB assistant commissioner Thomas Goodall said: “The risk of wildfires in London currently is heightened and this risk increases with every day that passes without rainfall.”
According to the Met Office, England recorded its sixth driest March since records began in 1836, while Wales had its fourth driest.
LFB said it received 48% more calls last weekend compared with the same weekend last year.
So far this year, at least 286 wildfires have been recorded in the UK — more than 100 above the number recorded during the same period in 2022, a year marked by record-breaking heat and unprecedented wildfire activity.
Wildfire expert Dr Olivia Haas told the Standard that fires tend to occur in spring rather than summer in the UK, as vegetation “is still quite dry and ready to burn”.
