After helping provide pollen forecast to the nation for nearly three decades the University of Worcester has completed its final season of tracking.

Since its launch in 1995, the university has ran the UK's network of monitoring stations.

In recent years, the Met Office assumed daily management of the pollen operation, while still tapping into the expertise of staff at the university.

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As the institution's final season comes to a close, the Met Office will take on full responsibility for the forecasting service.

Dr Beverley Adams-Groom, a senior palynologist and pollen forecaster at the university, has been a key figure as one of the nation's most prominent experts in helping the public understand forecasts and providing advise to hay fever sufferers.

She said: "This marks the end of an era where we’ve been supplying forecasts to the nation and helping people understand how pollen and fungal spores will affect them.

"We’ve enjoyed being a part of the Met Office’s approach to providing pollen forecasts and data in recent years, but advancements and developments mean this information can now be generated without our expertise."

She added: “While we’ll no longer be providing information to the Met Office, or providing our own weekly forecast, we still have a wealth of information on our website which is free and publicly available to help people understand pollen and its impacts on allergy sufferers, and advice on how to mitigate the effects.”

Yolanda Clewlow, the Met Office’s UK Pollen Forecast manager, said: "Our long working relationship with Beverley and the team at The University of Worcester has always been very positive and has led to improvements in the forecasts we provide to the public."

“Although Worcester won’t be involved on a day-to-day basis next year, there is a mutual openness to the possibility for future collaboration, not just on the pollen forecast, but on wider research too.”

She added: “We will continue to manage the network of committed pollen observers around the UK, who gather the important data that supports the forecasts and is also used by the research community.

"We know how valued and popular the pollen forecasts are, and we are committed to delivering these next year.

"The pollen forecast will continue uninterrupted for the next pollen season and will be available on the Met Office website and app, as usual."