LIST: Calendar of main pollen allergies in France month by month

The winter truce is over for France’s allergy season. The pollen from poplar, ash, birch, hornbeam and plane trees is already starting to churn through sinuses as the weather warms up.

France’s national air quality watchdog the Réseau National de Surveillance Aérobiologique RNSA) released its first warnings of the year on February 15 due to the high levels of Cypress and Alder pollen in the air from the Mediterranean to the Channel coast.

That warning, which marks the start of allergy season, will be the first of many, with the last major pollen outbreak of the year usually coming in August.

Month by month allergy calendar

Allergy symptoms

People unfamiliar with French plant life should by particularly attentive to any allergy-like symptoms, including:

• Runny nose
• Coughing
• Red and watery eyes
• Breathing difficulties (in severe cases)
• Asthma attacks (in severe cases)

The RNSA recommends that people take antihistamine-based treatments, and take steps around the home to reduce their risk. Sensitive individuals are also advised to

• Wash clothes regularly
• Rinse hair in the evening
• Air rooms early in the morning and late in the evening when temperatures are lower and less pollen is in the air
• Dry clothes indoors
• Avoid outdoor sports
• Keep car windows closed
• Check pollen levels going outdoors, on the RNSA website, here.

Read more:

Hope for allergic asthma sufferers as French laboratory tests vaccine

Processionary caterpillars in French forest blamed for sick dogs