Last Saturday, Professor Simon Haberle recorded a pollen count the likes of which he hasn't seen for years.

Haberle is Professor of Natural History at the ANU in Canberra, and a pollen expert. 

For the last 10 years, he and his team at pollen-monitoring centre Canberra Pollen have been recording pollen counts in and around the national capital.

But what he measured on Saturday was almost off the scale.

"We have a scale where we measure the number of grass pollen grains per metre cubed," Haberle told Weatherzone.

"Below 20 grass pollen grains is a low reading. Between 20 and 50 is moderate, and some people will start to suffer in this range.

"Between 50 and 100 is high, and lots of people will begin to feel the effects of hay fever and asthma when the count is in this range. Anything over 100 is extreme."

Saturday's Canberra reading? A whopping 129, which was one of the highest they have ever recorded.

The pollen count is high in large parts of southeast Australia right now because of the consistent – and in many areas heavy – winter and spring rainfall. That means abundant grass growth, and grass means pollen.

Canberra is more susceptible to airborne pollen than any other Australian city because of its proximity to large areas of grassland. It's especially bad when the prevailing northwesterly wind kicks in. The capital also has numerous introduced tree species with allergenic properties.

But it's not just Canberrans suffering. Grassland ecologist Ben Courtice has just spent several days "doing fieldwork and sneezing a lot" in the Grampians in western Victoria. He reckons this is one of the worst seasons for hay fever he's experienced in 25 years.

"Grasses don't require insects to pollinate" he explains. "They are wind-pollinated plants, and the pollen can go for hundreds of kilometres."

Courtice went on to explain that sunlight can render pollen sterile, which means many people will suffer the worst effects at night.

The #thunderstormasthma forecast is HIGH for parts of Victoria tomorrow. Do you have asthma or hay fever? Are you prepared? For advice https://t.co/tibl9plF9b pic.twitter.com/HHsdpNKsia

— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) November 10, 2020

So when is relief in sight?

According to Professor Haberle, grass season normally runs from September through to mid December, and the first two or three weeks of November are usually the worst.

The amount of airborne pollen was negated in the last couple of years due to grass die-off in the drought. But right now, we're in peak pollen period.

Meanwhile, Canberra Pollen forecasts high pollen counts for the rest of the week, with an extreme reading predicted for Saturday as northwesterly winds of up to 25 km/h affect Canberra.

For those allergic to pollen wherever you are, there's a list of tips for reducing exposure here: https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/allergic-rhinitis-hay-fever-and-sinusitis/pollen-allergy