Canberra has recorded one of its worst grass pollen seasons in years with the number of extreme pollen days more than double the previous recorded high.

Canberra’s record season of sneezing is coming to end, with one of our leading environmental scientists declaring the run of high pollen days is over … for now.

The ACT government is considering ways to improve air quality monitoring across the city in the wake of last summer's record-breaking smoke haze, but there are no specific plans to include pollen monitoring.

The wet spring season might have eased the threat of serious bushfires over coming weeks for Canberra, but La Niña is throwing up different challenges for the Territory.

With global warming likely to make Canberra's pollen season worse, an expanded network of monitoring stations would help authorities make better public health warnings for people with hay fever and asthma.

• Canberra is recording high levels of pollen, which has led to thunderstorm asthma warnings
• Pharmacists have reported a rush on strong allergy medicine this spring
• A thunderstorm asthma warning is current for the ACT region

After bushfires, smoke, hail storms and a pandemic comes ryegrass, elevating pollen counts to levels not seen in a decade, bringing runny noses, watery eyes, asthma outbreaks and that tickle on the roof of your mouth that won’t go away.

It's hardly a surprise the bush capital is also the hay fever capital, but a new research project has uncovered just where the allergy-inducing plants are spread throughout the city.

Spring has sprung and on the very first day of the new season the ACT was hit with an extreme pollen count, giving hayfever sufferers the sniffles, watery eyes and a taste of what’s in store for the next few months.

Often there's a slight rise in grass pollen in mid to late summer but because of the dry year we've had, grass pollen is below average from what we've seen in previous years