Hay fever due to the flowering of birch trees. Image: Adobe Stock/drubig-photo
Do you suffer from hay fever and are you allergic to birch pollen? Then you can already experience complaints and this is too early. Due to a record mild February and an exceptionally mild March, birch trees are flowering much earlier than usual. This usually happens at the beginning of April, but now we're already in the middle of March!
The first half of this week will be very mild with temperatures rising to 15 degrees or more widely and there will be sunny spells. This will cause more and more birch trees to bloom. There have already been many days of spring in the Southeast and soon a fair number of birch trees will be in bloom. In other places, it starts with a single birch tree, but after these mild days more may soon follow.
In the north, there will be some rain at times through Thursday, which will clean the air. Elsewhere, no significant rain will fall until Thursday and the amount of pollen in the air will increase. Are you allergic to birch pollen? Then take into account the increased risk of complaints and start taking hay fever medicine at the right time.
Follow the hay fever weather report.
From Friday onwards, there will be a variable and refreshing phase, with rain often washing away the fresh air and the coastal region benefiting from clean sea air. Complaints may then decrease temporarily and the development of birch trees will slow somewhat. In the long term, the weather will become milder with regular rain. These are the growing conditions, where more and more birch trees will thrive.
Read also: In what weather do you suffer from hay fever most?
Birch is the biggest cause of hay fever among trees
Are you very sensitive to birch pollen? Then you can develop complaints with low amounts of birch pollen. Birch pollen is highly allergenic and causes complaints in about a million Dutch people during the peak period. The peak of the birch pollen season will likely occur at the beginning of April this year.
Birch in bloom. Image: Adobe Stock/Jackf
Birch is the tree that causes most hay fever complaints. Then come hazel trees, alders, and elm trees, which spread moderately allergenic pollen. Almost all of the hazelnut trees have finished blooming. There is one curly hazel flower still blooming. Many alder trees have already finished flowering, but some trees are currently still spreading pollen. The ash tree is currently in bloom.
Read also: So goes the hay fever season
Furthermore, elms, poplars, willows and first trumpet flowers also bloom at this time. Pollen from these trees causes minor allergies and causes complaints in a much smaller number of people. Oak and beech (hedges) are the last tree species that bloom later in April. These also cause little or no allergy symptoms.
When does grass pollen season start?
Due to the mild weather, the grass is already starting to grow significantly and will also start flowering earlier than average. This means that by mid-April, early flowering grass species, such as foxtail, may already have spread pollen. Grass pollen is highly allergenic and causes hay fever symptoms in a few million Dutch people.
In this hay fever calendar, you can find out when different trees and plants cause hay fever complaints on average. Trees and plants not mentioned here cause no or very few complaints.
If the weather remains mild in April and the top layer of soil does not dry out, the peak grass pollen season can occur in early May. This is usually in the second half of May and June.
