Red alert for allergy sufferers

People with allergies can expect a difficult time over the coming days as grass pollen rises to peak levels across France.

The body which monitors pollen has issued a red alert across all of France, except a few areas along the Mediterranean coast, high in the Pyrenees and in the north of the country. It also says that there is some oak pollen in the Mediterranean region and that levels of pollen from olive trees and some other flowering trees and plants are rising.

The RNSA warned that “grasses are in full pollination and these pollens will disperse in large quantities as soon as the opportunity presents itself.”

The storms forecast for Tuesday will lower the levels of pollen, but when the sun returns later in the week, grass pollen “will reach a maximum level throughout the country.”

For now, the alert, which is at level 5, the highest on the scale the agency uses, extends until the weekend.

June is the peak period for grass pollen in France. When it fades, it is usually followed by ragweed, another old irritant for the 10% to 30% of the population who suffer from hay fever.