UP to one in five Brits suffer from hay fever.
Most people are sensitive to the pollen and airborne allergens shed by grass, which reach peak levels in June and July every year.
Make sure your local green space isn’t forecast to be a hay fever hot spot this weekend
This map reveals which parks are going be worst for grass hay fever sufferers this weekend as another pollen bomb drops.
Millions are expected to be effected as ‘very high’ pollen counts forecast for all but three areas of the UK.
Only Scotland’s northern-most regions escape the Met Office’s highest alert today (June 22).
High pollen will continue in England and Wales over the weekend.
Medium warnings are in place for Scotland’s northern-most regions on some days.
While southern England pollen count remains ‘very high’ throughout.
Brits are also due some sunny weather this weekend, with parts of the UK reaching 28C on Saturday, according to the Met Office.
But before heading out to your nearest park to bask in the heat, make sure your local green space isn’t forecast to be a hay fever hot spot.
A third of the Britain’s 100 biggest parks are due to have a ‘high’ pollen count this weekend.
Data, sourced by The Sun from international weather forecaster AccuWeather, suggests grass pollen levels will be painfully high in 32 parks across England and Scotland.
All parks featured on the map scored a ‘high’ grass pollen rating from Thursday right through to Monday.
Many green spaces most likely to cause a hay fever attack in those wanting to enjoy a park this weekend, are in the West Midlands.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP, said: “Dry, windy conditions are likely to lead to higher pollen counts.
“This means open parks in flat areas will often have higher counts.”
Parks with more grass are also more likely to have higher pollen counts, airborne allergens expert Max Wiseberg, added.
“When it’s very high pollen make sure you avoid parks when you can, especially grassy ones,” he said.
Data from the weather website suggests parks which tend to be more sandy than grassy – such as those found on the Scottish coastline – have very low pollen counts this weekend.
“I don’t like to tell hay fever suffers to stay indoors and hide away when the pollen count is high,” the creator of HayMax suggested.
“Instead just go to the beach, where you shouldn’t come across as much grass pollen.”
Hay fever symptoms
HAY fever is a common allergic condition.
You’ll experience hay fever symptoms if you have an allergic reaction to pollen.
You’ll experience hay fever symptoms if you have an allergic reaction to pollen.
The symptoms of hay fever include:
frequent sneezing
runny or blocked nose
itchy, red or watery eyes (allergic conjunctivitis)
an itchy throat, mouth, nose and ears
cough, caused by postnasal drip (mucus dripping down the throat from the back of the nose)
Less commonly, you may also experience:
the loss of your sense of smell (anosmia)
facial pain (caused by blocked sinuses)
headaches
earache
tiredness and fatigue
If you have asthma, your asthma symptoms may get worse when you have hay fever.
Source: NHS