Pollen concentrations in the continent’s atmosphere could rise from Monday

Pollen concentrations in the atmosphere could rise on the Portuguese mainland from Monday, reaching moderate to high risk levels if forecasts for the end of the rains and rising temperatures are confirmed.

The information is contained in the Pollen Bulletin of the Portuguese Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (SPAIC) for the week of May 3 to 9, published this Thursday.

“Pollen concentrations are expected to remain low to moderate over the weekend due to the ‘atmospheric wash-off’ effect caused by the precipitation expected to occur on the Portuguese mainland,” the advisory said.

According to the SPAIC forecast, from the 6th, patients with allergies will be at high risk in the regions of Beira Litoral, Beira Interior, Lisbon and Setúbal, Alentejo and Algarve, with the risk being moderate to high in Trás os Montes and Alto -Douro, and also Between Douro and Minho.

For the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores, the forecast for next week suggests low pollen concentrations.

SPAIC recommends that you “pay attention to the weather forecast to complement the pollen forecast.”

As for the origin of pollen, the main ones on the continent are “from olive, pine, oak, holm oak and cork oak and herbaceous grasses, plantain, nettle, sorrel and nettle (including parietaria).”

In the regions of Algarve, Alentejo, Lisbon and Setúbal, and in particular in the Madeira archipelago, “chaenopodium pollination is observed”, while in the north and center of the country birch pollen is released.

In Madeira and the Azores, pollen “mainly comes from” pines and cypresses (and/or cryptomeria on the largest archipelagos) and nettle grasses (including parietaria), nettles, plantains and grasses.