Sneezing attacks, itchy eyes and runny nose: the hay fever season has begun in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. However, due to the changeable weather, the impact so far is rather moderate, as Christina Endler from the Center for Medical Meteorological Research of the German Weather Service (DWD) says.
"At the moment, we are primarily dealing with hazel and alder pollen." Last year, hazel and alder pollen levels had already reached a high level at the same time of year in some cases.
Cold and warm weather alternately influence flowering
"The cold weather phases in recent weeks caused plant development to stagnate for a short time," explained Endler. However, there have also been mild weather phases in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia in the meantime, which favored plant development again.
According to Endler, the hazel blossom began over a large area at the end of January this year. "In Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, the hazel blossom started only a few days earlier according to current reports, whereas in Saxony the hazel blossom started on average around two weeks earlier." In some areas, the alder blossom already started in the first half of February.
"Sunny and dry weather generally favors pollen release and pollen dispersal and thus pollen flight," explained Endler. Changeable weather with persistent and frequent precipitation, on the other hand, would minimize the pollen count because the pollen is increasingly washed out of the air.
Pollen season starts earlier and earlier
Over the last 30 years, there has been an overall trend towards an earlier and earlier start to flowering - partly because winters have recently been comparatively mild.
Looking at the periods 1961 to 1990 and 1991 to 2020, phenological observations show that the start of hazel flowering in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia has shifted forward by two to three weeks. It is therefore increasingly likely that the hazel blossom will begin in January or early February in future.
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