People seek hay fever advice once every three seconds, says NHS England

A huge ‘pollen bomb’ hit the UK last weekend

People sought advice for hay fever symptoms once every three seconds on Sunday as the country was hit by a huge “pollen bomb” at the weekend.

NHS England, which runs the NHS.uk website, said that there were 122,650 visits to the hay fever section of the website last week.

In the first week of May there were just 35,000 visits. Sunday was the busiest day of the week, with 27,834 visits over 24 hours. The site also saw surges on its specific antihistamine web pages.

“Many of us experience hay fever symptoms at this time of year and the nhs.uk hay fever advice page provides the latest medical advice to manage your symptoms, as well as giving guidance on when to get support from NHS services,” said Robert Cleary, NHS England’s content director for the NHS website.

It comes after the Met Office warned of a “pollen bomb” last weekend, with hay fever sufferers being urged to prepare for the high pollen.

The warm weather at the weekend, with temperatures hitting the 30s, was expected to increase pollen levels in the UK.

The Met Office guidance for Saturday and Sunday showed that large swathes of south and central England had a high alert for pollen levels. The levels of pollen were due to remain generally low in the north.

The pollen count is expected to stay elevated this week with a very high alert in most of England and Wales on Tuesday, the forecaster said.

The high pollen levels are expected to continue for the rest of the week in those areas as the warm weather continues throughout the country.

Hay fever is usually at its worst between March and September when the pollen count is at its highest and the weather can be warm, windy and humid.

Symptoms of hay fever can include: sneezing and coughing; a runny or blocked nose and itchy, red or watery eyes.

Doctor Milli Raizada, GP and senior clinical lecturer at Lancaster University, recommends people take antihistamine tablets or use nasal or steroid sprays to cope with hayfever and reduce inflammation.

She said antihistamines can be used as a preventative measure a couple of weeks before high pollen levels are expected.

People can also stay inside, keep windows closed and wear sunglasses to reduce the level of pollen they are exposed to, she said.

Additional reporting by PA