Hayfever warning: 'Super pollen' clouds to fill the air this weekend, sparking misery for Britons

Allergy-hit Britons face a triple-whammy of misery with blistering heat, soaring pollen counts and storms to trigger ‘thunder fever’.

An African plume could push the mercury to 32C in parts this weekend as summer's first heatwave hits.

Boiling temperatures on Saturday will kick-start a thunder and lightning explosion as pollen counts rocket to ‘very high’.

Lightning will split irritant dust into highly potent particles, filling the air with clouds of ‘super pollen’.

The Mer Office has warned of 'very high' pollen counts this weekend

Met Office

Max Wiseberg, airborne allergens expert and creator of HayMax allergen barrier balms, said: "Warm, sunny weather generally means higher pollen counts.

"Thunderstorms can cause a phenomenon called ‘thunder fever’ meaning the stormy weather will not give sufferers the respite they might expect.

"Storms cause great movements in the air, bringing pollen grains down which might have otherwise risen above head height out of harm's way, and whipping up pollen grains near the ground."

Humidity and lightning during thunderstorms can break pollen grains into more powerful allergens, he warned.

He said: "According to a report in The European Respiratory review, humidity and lightning breaks pollen grains into smaller allergenic particles.

"One pollen grain becomes two which instantly raises the pollen count.

"These new pollen grains also turn into a kind of ‘super-pollen’ which appears to be more allergenic than normal pollen, causing more severe reactions in sufferers."

Warm air surging across Europe and the Continent this weekend will bring the first heatwave of the year.

Temperatures are expected to widely hit the high-20Cs with 30C to 32C possible in the sunniest parts.

The Met Office has issued thunderstorm warnings across southern Britain on Saturday afternoon ahead of lightning, torrential downpours and flash floods.

Yellow weather warnings are in place for thunderstorms on Sunday

Met Office

Jim Dale, meteorologist for British Weather Services, said: "This is definitely going to be the hottest weekend of the year so far.

"We could see 30C in parts of the country, or even 32C as an outlier as warm air comes in across Europe and France from Africa, and into the UK.

"For much of the country, we are looking at highs of 28C or 29C on Saturday, but this is going to drive some very lively thunderstorms and there could be risks associated with them."

The Met Office predicts ‘very high’ pollen counts across southern and central Britain on Saturday with northern regions at medium to high.

Levels will stay between ‘very high’ and ‘high’ on Sunday apart from in Scotland where they will dip to ‘medium’ and ‘low’ on the coasts.

The Met Office with the UK Health Security Agency has issued an amber Heat-Health alert across southern Britain through the weekend.

A separate yellow alert is in force across northern regions as high temperatures threaten ‘significant impacts’.

A UK Health Security Agency spokesman said: "Temperatures will increase widely during the coming days with winds coming from a more southerly direction.

"Significant impacts are probable across the health and social care sector due to the high temperatures."

Those who escape the worst of the weekend pollen deluge will come under fire from giant hailstones.

James Madden, forecaster for Exacta Weather, said: "The potential for the development of some widespread thunderstorms this weekend will intensify in an unstable atmosphere.

"Some of these could contain unusually large hailstones."