Pollen Counting

The David Hide Centre continues to provide pollen counts for the South of England with readings taken from the Burkard volumetric spore trap situated on the roof of St Mary's Hospital.

Weekly counting of tree pollens commences in March each year and the count is increased to daily in mid-May when the grass pollens begin to appear. The pollen count continues until September.

In 2008, grass pollens reached their highest levels in June. It was noticeable that on the days when the temperature stayed high throughout the 24 hour period, the pollen count remained high instead of reducing at night as usually happens.

The highest readings for individual pollens were:

A high reading is one with a reading above 50 pollen grains/m3 air.

The results are sent daily to the Met Office for distribution to the media in the UK and Europe.

Useful Links: