Do you have a runny nose and itchy eyes? There is perhaps another reason for that.
Right now there is a strong spread of birch pollen in Eastern Norway, and parts of southern and central Norway, the Meteorological Institute reports.
Parts of Agder, most of Eastern Norway and smaller areas in Romsdalen, Trøndelag and Nordmøre are covered by the worst forecast.
The pollen level was sky high at the weekend as well. On Saturday, senior researcher Hallvard Ramfjord in the Norwegian Asthma and Allergy Association (NAAF) stated the following to Dagbladet:
– This is because we are in the middle of the first flowering of the birch. Then it is very often the first week that is the worst, says Ramfjord.
An extreme spread is the highest level in NAAF’s national pollen warning.
– This boundary between an “extreme” and a “strong” spread, i.e. the level below, is something we have set, but it is, in a way, rather artificial. It does not necessarily make such a big difference whether there are 900 pollen grains or 1100 per cubic metre. A strong pollen spread is no small matter either. It can be very serious for allergy sufferers who are badly affected, says Ramfjord.
