France affected by the first birch pollens, red alert for cypress pollens around the Mediterranean

For many, spring is not only synonymous with warm weather, longer and sunnier days. It also coincides with the return of different pollens, which generates unpleasant allergies in part of the population. In an update published Wednesday March 20, the National Aerobiological Surveillance Network (RNSA) reports that “the first birch pollens are arriving this week in a good part of France, mainly north of a Bordeaux-Grenoble line”.

On its website, the RNSA specifies that “the risk of allergies will quickly increase with spring weather”with temperatures rising in part of the territory.

The risks are particularly high around the Mediterranean, due to pollens from the cupressaceae family, which includes cypresses in particular. Moreover, “the mixture of poplar, hornbeam, willow, alder, ash, birch and cypress pollens could increase the risk of allergy to the average level in several departments”explains the RNSA.