Hay fever sufferers in Scotland will be on high alert over the next few days with pollen levels expected to rise.
The Met Office says that the level of pollen will be high across most of Scotland over today and Thursday.
Pollen levels will be at moderate levels in the Highlands and low in Orkney over those days.
The pollen will remain high across Fife and Edinburgh on Friday, while dipping to moderate to low elsewhere.
Levels will then stay at moderate across the whole of mainland Scotland on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.
The news comes as forecasters anticipate much of Scotland to bake in warm temperatures as high as 21C over Thursday and Friday.
But it is expected to stay cloudy over those couple of days, with a chance of light rain at times.
Met Office Meteorologist Clare Nasir explains: “As we head through Thursday, we could see some hazy sunshine through the day, but again, some clearer skies later on.
“In fact we’ll see some warm sunshine through Thursday, as temperatures rise quite nicely into the 20s - but there’s always a chance of a little bit more cloud and some shower bursts of rain clipping the far west.
“It will feel warm yet again on Friday, and then things just turn a little bit fresher with some showery bursts of rain into the weekend.”
Last week, the Met Office predicted that pollen in the UK could be “more intense” this year compared to previous ones.
Grass pollen is firmly in focus following the spring release of many types of tree pollen.
The levels of grass pollen will peak during the first half of this month, with another peak coming in early July.
And while the number of pollen grains expected this year has been described as ‘not especially noteworthy’, there are fears over the potency of the pollen grains.
Yolanda Clewlow, Met Office Relationship Manager for Health and Air Quality, explains: “In terms of the numbers of pollen grains in the air, what we’re seeing isn’t especially noteworthy compared to what we’ve had in previous years.
“However, the potency of these pollen grains could be more intense this year, and that comes down to the weather we’ve had in spring.
“A warm and wet May, coupled with a relatively warm spring, means there’s a chance that the pollen that has developed is particularly potent, even if the amounts aren’t dramatically different.”
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