Often dismissed as summertime sniffles, the condition that affects a quarter of UK adults can lead to serious and life-limiting health problems
Read more: Pollen peril: how heat, thunder and smog are creating deadly hay fever seasons
Sometimes the season starts as early as mid-April; other times it’s slower to get going. But for Lisa Ventura, June is consistently the cruellest month. “I might get lulled into a false sense of security: ‘Oh, it’s the end of May, it hasn’t started yet’,” she says in a heavy tone. “Then, as if on cue, it’s June the first – and bang.”
Ventura suffers from “debilitating” hay fever. For about three months from early May, she cannot be outside for more than a few minutes before she starts sniffing and sneezing. “When it’s really bad, my eyes look like I’ve gone 10 rounds with a boxer – they are that swollen,” says Ventura.
