HAY FEVER is one of those conditions where the unfortunate sufferer often gets little sympathy from those who never have to go through the annual bout of sneezing and watering eyes.

Like a case of gout or piles, it’s one of those conditions which can seem almost slightly comical. However, for those with hay fever, the summer torment is little to laugh at, often meaning those who suffer badly have to spend part of their summer months confined to the house.

Scientists are predicting this summer could be particularly bad news for sufferers thanks to a condensed pollen season caused by the late, cold spring.

Experts warn that the birch pollen season, which usually starts in late March or early April and affects 25 per cent of hay fever victims, has just kicked off and will last for up to five weeks.

This means the grass pollen season, which affects 95 per cent of sufferers, will hit simultaneously in May causing horrendous symptoms of sneezing, itchy eyes and painful sinuses.

In York, 30 per cent of hay fever sufferers admit that their symptoms are usually worst in July. However, experts say they may experience them earlier this year.

One of those who knows only too well the misery of the condition is Mike Laycock, 54, chief reporter at The Press, who has suffered every summer since his teens.

“The first sign it’s coming is when my eyes start to itch and then I think ‘hay fever season must be here’,” he said. “The first time I really got it was in the drought summers of 1975 and 1976. I had it before but it was particularly bad that year.

“Everyone was outside and I was in the house and I knew if I had gone outside my eyes would have been streaming.

“It usually comes on about the time of Wimbledon fortnight. I was always inspired to go out and have a game of tennis but my eyes would always end up streaming by the end of the day.”

Mike said that for several years he found relief in regular preventative injections.

“I would go once a week and I remember it used to involve a small amount of pollen with the idea of building up resistance.

“I think doctors have abandoned that now but I found it helped a bit, though it was a pain having to go for an injection every week.”

Mike says he eventually found some relief from the well-known drug Piriton, though this caused drowsiness and meant he could not drive while using it.

He now uses antihistamine Cetirizine, and has done for many years, though he says he suspects his age and living in a city, rather than his previous home on the edge of Ilkley Moor, have also played a part in easing his suffering over the years.

It is estimated that one in five of us will experience hay fever at some point in our lives, so what can Mike and millions of others like him expect this year?

Beverley Adams-Groom, chief pollen forecaster at University of Worcester’s National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit, says the late, cold spring will mean that this year’s main tree pollen season will run into the start of the main grass pollen season, giving little let-up for allergen hay fever sufferers.

“A later than average start to the birch pollen season means a shorter hay fever period, with the south-east, the Midlands, London, south-central and south-west worst affected,” she explained.

“Pollen dispersal requires dry, warm weather while humid conditions can allow fungal spore scattering from June onwards. The main allergenic pollen types in the UK are birch and grass, but oak, weeds such as mugwort, nettle and plantain, and plane are also problematic.”

Research into 2,968 adult hay fever sufferers carried out by Care Allergy Defence alongside Beverley’s work, found while 30 per cent of hay fever sufferers in York experience symptoms in May, two per cent say theirs can start as early as February.

The top triggers for people living in the city are grass (seven per cent) and weeds (six per cent).

BBC One Show regular Dr Sarah Jarvis says: “The standard advice for hay fever victims includes avoiding cut grass and grassy places, as this is the biggest trigger.

“Even having the windows open at home can be enough to bring on the symptoms.

“While the rest of us will look forward to the summer, hay fever sufferers are full of dread.

“Though some people struggle with the drowsiness that anti-histamines can cause, there is a wealth of other options available including steroid nose sprays and protective gel barriers. “With the right treatment hay fever symptoms really can be kept at bay.”

For more information on hay fever and how to treat it, visit nhs.uk/conditions/hay-fever/pages/introduction.aspx