Birch
March – May
The dominant spring tree allergen in northern and central Europe. A single birch releases millions of grains, and levels spike on warm, dry, windy days.
Pollen Forecast Today in Europe
Current pollen levels by region, which pollen is in the air right now, and how to reduce hay fever symptoms.
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Choose a region
Search above or pick a region on the map to see levels for each pollen type.
Pollen report today
A plain-language summary for the region you have selected.
Pick a region on the map, or search for one above, to see today's report.
Pollen trend — past & upcoming days
Daily concentration for the region you have selected, with the days already measured to the left of today and the forecast to the right.
Pollen across Europe
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Pollen level
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Which pollen causes hay fever?
Six species are forecast across Europe. Which ones matter depends on where you are and when.
Grass
May – August
The most widespread allergen on the continent. Grasses grow nearly everywhere, so grass pollen affects more people than any other type.
Alder
January – March
The earliest tree pollen of the year. In mild winters alder starts releasing in January, catching people before they expect a season at all.
Mugwort
July – September
A late-summer weed of roadsides and waste ground across Europe. It overlaps with ragweed, which makes late summer hard for weed-sensitive people.
Olive
April – June
Mediterranean only, but dominant where it occurs: Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal. Absent from northern Europe entirely.
Ragweed
August – October
The dominant late-summer allergen in the Pannonian basin — Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and northern Italy. Highly allergenic: symptoms can begin at only a few grains per cubic metre.
Hay fever tips
Small changes that measurably reduce how much pollen reaches you.
Keep windows shut by day
Pollen peaks in the morning and again in the early evening. Air rooms late at night or after rain instead.
Rinse it off
Pollen sticks to hair and skin. A shower before bed keeps it off your pillow, where you would otherwise breathe it for eight hours.
Dry laundry indoors
Clothes on an outdoor line act as a pollen trap in peak season.
Wear wraparound sunglasses
They keep a useful share of pollen out of your eyes, which is where many people notice symptoms first.
Use recirculation in the car
And replace the cabin filter before the season rather than during it.
Start medication early
Antihistamines work better taken before symptoms build than after. Watch the forecast and start a few days ahead.
Pollen and hay fever across Europe
Hay fever affects roughly one in four adults in Europe, and the season is lengthening: warmer springs pull tree pollen forward, and milder autumns extend the weed season at the other end. Which pollen troubles you depends heavily on where you are — the same date can be peak olive season in Andalusia and peak birch season in Finland.
Where the data comes from
Every figure on this site is produced by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, the European Union's atmospheric monitoring programme. CAMS runs an ensemble of regional air-quality models and publishes a four-day pollen forecast each morning covering the whole European domain.
We take that forecast once per day and aggregate it from the model grid onto 333 NUTS regions, publishing both a mean and a peak for each. The peak matters: a region the size of Andalusia or Bavaria can carry a heavy plume over one corner that an area average dilutes to almost nothing — and the person standing under that plume is exactly who needed the warning.
How the levels are set
Concentrations are converted to grains per cubic metre and grouped into five bands, from none to very high. The bands differ per species because allergenicity does: a few grains of ragweed can trigger symptoms where birch needs considerably more before most people notice.
The pollen calendar
Broadly, the European season runs in three overlapping waves. Trees come first — alder and hazel from January, birch from March. Grasses take over from May through midsummer, affecting the largest number of people. Weeds close the year, with mugwort from July and ragweed from August into October. Around the Mediterranean, olive inserts a fourth wave in late spring.
When to see a doctor
Persistent symptoms that disrupt sleep or work are worth discussing with a GP or pharmacist, particularly if over-the-counter antihistamines are not helping. Wheezing or shortness of breath during high-pollen periods should be checked promptly — pollen is a common asthma trigger, and thunderstorms during peak season can make it sharply worse.
Forecast guidance only — not medical advice.
Frequently asked questions
How often is the forecast updated?
Once a day. CAMS publishes its 00Z model run each morning and we ingest it shortly afterwards, producing today plus a three-day forecast.
Which countries are covered?
Forty, wherever the CAMS European domain reaches — the EU, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, the Western Balkans and Türkiye. Coverage stops at the model's edges, so the Canaries, the Azores and the French overseas departments fall outside it.
Are these measurements or predictions?
Predictions. They come from an atmospheric model, not from pollen traps. Model forecasts are very good at showing where and when pollen is moving, but any single day's absolute number can differ from what a nearby measuring station records.
Why do some species carry a warning?
Five of the six are flagged as not yet calibrated: their band edges come from published clinical evidence but have not been checked against measured counts for that species, so treat the level as guidance rather than a precise figure. Grass is the exception — its bands were tested against 113 days of measurements from a Dutch counting station, and matched the station's own level on about half of them.
What is the difference between mean and peak?
Mean is the average across the whole region; peak is the highest value anywhere in it. In a large region the two can differ enormously, and the peak is usually the more useful number if you are sensitive.
Is this free?
Yes, and there is no account to create. The underlying data is published openly by Copernicus.