Symptoms may be lasting for significantly longer than they did 30 years ago (Image: Getty)
Hay fever suffers now endure up to two more weeks of symptoms than they would have done in the 1990s because climate change has “prolonged the pollen season”, according to researchers. The changing climate is shifting the flowering season of plants including birch, alder and olive trees. An earlier season start of one to two weeks was detected for all allergenic trees between 2015 and 2024, compared with 1991 to 2000.
The trend was revealed in the Lancet Countdown in Europe 2026 report. Writing in The Lancet Public Health journal, experts said: “Climate change has prolonged the pollen season by one to two weeks, increasing the duration of exposure for people with allergic rhinitis.” More than 10 million people are thought to suffer from hay fever in the UK. Common symptoms include sneezing; a runny nose; itchy, red or watery eyes; headaches and feeling tired.
Dr Roger Henderson, an NHS GP and Olbas spokesperson, told the Express: “Although people often think of it as ‘just sneezing’, the symptoms can be quite wide-ranging.
“The classic signs are frequent sneezing, a runny or blocked nose, and itchy, watery eyes. Many people also notice an itchy throat, palate or ears, as well as a cough caused by a post-nasal drip.
“Less obvious symptoms include headaches, tiredness, poor sleep and difficulty concentrating, particularly during days when the pollen count is high. In people with asthma, hay fever can also worsen wheezing and chest tightness, which is one reason doctors take it more seriously than its name suggests.”
Anne Biggs, deputy head of clinical services at Allergy UK, said understanding the timing and length of different pollen seasons is “vital to support clinicians to ensure treatment and management of allergic conditions can be optimised”.
She added: “Details on longer pollen seasons is essential in the understanding and management of allergic conditions associated with pollens and air quality. It is an opportunity to raise awareness on not only the impact of hay fever, but the treatment options available to ensure people with pollen allergies can live symptom free.”
Hay fever symptoms are usually worse when the weather is warm, humid and windy and when the pollen count is at its highest, typically between late March and September.
The report on climate change and health in Europe, written by 65 researchers from 46 academic and UN institutions, also warned that heat-related health risks are on the rise.
Heat health warnings across Europe have increased by 318% compared with the 1990s, and almost all regions monitored saw an increase in the numbers of deaths attributable to heat during the period between 2015-2024 compared with 1991-2000.
Climate change is also increasing the spread of mosquito-borne viruses (Image: Getty)
In 2024 alone, an 62,000 deaths in Europe were attributed to heat. Climate change is also leading to more mosquito-borne viruses being found on the continent.
The overall average risk for dengue outbreaks increased by 297% across Europe during 2015 to 2024 compared with 1981 to 2010, the authors said.
Co-director of the Lancet Countdown Europe Professor Joacim Rocklov, from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, said: “Across Europe, the health impacts of climate change are intensifying faster than our response is keeping up.
“Rising heat, worsening household air pollution, exposure to infectious diseases and growing threats to food security are placing millions of people at risk today — not in a distant future.
“The choices we make now will decide whether these health impacts worsen quickly or whether we begin moving toward a safer, fairer and more resilient Europe.”
The authors also warned that fossil fuel dependence is worsening health risks.
Dr Hannah Klauber, from the Lancet Countdown Europe’s working group on economics and finance, said: “As the conflict in Iran brings renewed uncertainty and suffering for people across the region, we are again reminded that as long as Europe relies on fossil fuels our economies, our public budgets and ultimately our health will remain vulnerable.
“Accelerating the transition to clean, secure energy is not only an environmental necessity, but a vital opportunity to safeguard for people’s wellbeing.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
