The Times - UK (2022-06-11)

the times | Saturday June 11 2022 2GM 9

News

It wouldn’t be a Great British summer
without sunshine and rain. Now Met
Office experts are warning of another
ingredient: hay fever from “particularly
potent” pollen.
Warm and wet conditions last month
are likely to explain why many people
feel their hay fever has been worse than
usual this year, experts have said.
While pollen counts are no higher
than usual, Yolanda Clewlow, the Met
Office relationship manager for health
and air quality, said: “The potency of
these pollen grains could be more in-
tense this year, and that comes down to
the weather we’ve had in spring.
“A warm and wet May, coupled with

Allergy alert over clouds of super-pollen

Kat Lay Health Editor a relatively warm spring, means there’s
a chance that the pollen that has devel-
oped is particularly potent.” Provision-
al statistics from the Met Office show
that last month was the fifth warmest
May on record, while rainfall was
slightly above average for the UK.
“The Met Office said pollen releases
would “continue to impact the one in
five people who suffer from hay fever in
the UK”. Pollen levels are high or very
high for many areas of England and
Wales next week. This is driven mainly
by different species of grass releasing
pollen into the air.
Clewlow added that the grass pollen
season usually followed a consistent
pattern and that there tended to be a
peak in the first half of June and

another in early July. This is due to

about 150 different species of grass

flowering at different times over spring

and summer, although only some are

allergenic.

Speaking to the Weather Snap pod-

cast, Clewlow said that hay fever suffer-

ers should avoid the pollen they had an

allergy to and watch the pollen forecast.

The levels of pollen in the air can fluc-

tuate greatly through the day.

“What’s typical is that a gentle breeze

will lift pollen off the plants early in the

morning. The warm air will then carry

this up and it’ll be optimal for getting in-

to our lungs in mid-to-late morning. By

the middle of the day the pollen will of-

ten be carried up very high, which can

make the pollen count much lower near

the ground. You can get that extra burst

of pollen again in the evening as the air

cools and allows the pollen to settle.”

Allergy UK said the hay fever season

was starting earlier and lasting longer

because of climate change. Margaret

Kelman, a specialist allergy nurse at the

charity, said: “Warmer temperatures

alter vegetation growing patterns, con-

tributing to earlier and longer pollen

seasons which leads to more intense

pollen seasons, and the increase in air

pollution and raised carbon dioxide

levels, can contribute to worsening

symptoms of allergy in susceptible

people especially those with allergic

rhinitis and asthma”.

The charity also highlighted a phe-

nomenon known as thunderstorm

asthma, in which people with asthma or

hay fever find their symptoms triggered

or worsened by the weather.

In a thunderstorm, high winds draw

higher levels of pollen and pollution

granules into the air. When the gran-

ules come into contact with water they

break down into smaller particles.

These can get deep into the lungs when

breathed in, triggering symptoms.

Allergy UK advised people with hay

fever or asthma to stay indoors before,

during and after storms with the

windows closed, and to wear a mask if

outside. They should also keep up with

any regular medication, and seek medi-

cal help for chest tightness or difficulty

breathing. Clewlow said there was con-

tinuing research into the condition.

Sir Mark Rylance’s younger brother has
been killed while cycling in California,
bringing further tragedy to bear on the
Oscar-winning actor a decade after the
death of his stepdaughter.
Jonathan Waters, 60, suffered severe
head injuries after being hit by a mini-
van in Oakland, California, on May 27.
He died the next day.
The San Francisco Chronicle
described the father of one, a somme-
lier, as a “beacon” of the region’s wine
and restaurant industry. Rylance, 62,

David Sanderson Arts Correspondent

I

f Shakespeare is to

be believed, pouring

poison into a rival’s

ear or pressing a

snake to a breast

are quick and efficient

ways to end a life (Kaya

Burgess writes).

The Bard, however,

got some of his famous

deaths wrong, according

to Dr Kathryn Harkup,

a chemist.

The murder of

Hamlet’s father,

Cleopatra’s suicide and

Juliet’s deep sleep were

brought about by

poisons, venom or

potions. But a lack of

scientific knowledge and

some dramatic licence

meant that they were

unrealistic.

More than 70

Shakespearean

characters meet grisly

ends on stage or in the

wings. Harkup, the

author of Death By

Shakespeare, has

analysed what the

playwright got right.

“He’s good at

observation, without

necessarily

understanding the

science of what’s going

on,” Harkup said. “But

he is not making a

science documentary.

He is entertaining his

audience.”

In The Merchant of

Venice, Shylock asks: “If

you poison us, do we not

die?” Well, probably not

if you copy Hamlet’s

uncle, Claudius, who

pours a toxin into his

brother’s ear.

Harkup told the

Cheltenham Science

Festival: “If you want to

get rid of your brother,

don’t poison them by

pouring stuff in their

ear. There’s not many

blood vessels around

that part of you. Your

ear is protected with

cartilage, thick skin,

wax.”

In Antony and

Cleopatra, the queen

chooses an asp, probably

a cobra, to end her life

because its venom “kills

and pains not” and will

make her die “at once”.

Harkup said: “She

wants two things from

this death. She wants a

painless death and she

wants to make an

attractive corpse.”

Neither would have

been possible. “If

you’re thinking of

going down the snake

route, my advice would

be — don’t,” Harkup

said. “Snake venom will

give you a kind of

creeping paralysis. You

won’t be able to breathe,

and that’s what kills you.

It will hurt like hell.”

In Romeo and Juliet,

the heroine asks a friar

for a potion to mimic

death so she can run off

with Romeo. She is

given a substance that

will leave her with “no

pulse” and “no breath”

for 42 hours, after which

she will rouse as if from

a “pleasant sleep”.

Harkup said: “If you

don’t breathe for 42

hours, I suggest that

there might be some

side effects.”

She said tetrodotoxin,

derived from the

pufferfish, “could be

convincing” — but

pufferfish “were

unknown in the UK

until the Cook voyages”.

Shakespeare got much

right, however. In The

Winter’s Tale, Antigonus

dies after a stage exit

“pursued by a bear”.

Harkup said bears did

not commonly attack

humans in the wild.

However, she agreed

that a bear kept in

London and used for

sport would almost

certainly have had

“some scores to settle”.

Shakespeare used

poetic licence to kill

ALAMY; KHARBINE-TAPABOR/SHUTTERSTOCK

Shakespearean death

as portrayed by Juliet’s

deep sleep, poison

dripped in the ear by

Hamlet’s uncle and the

asp to the breast of

Cleopatra fails to

convince the chemist Dr

Kathryn Harkup

because its venom“kills

w

a

be

yo

goi

rout

be —

said.

give

cree

Rylance is playing Johnny

“Rooster” Byron in Jerusalem

Rylance cancels shows after brother dies

apologised on Friday for cancelling

three London performances of the

acclaimed play Jerusalem, in which

he plays the lead character Johnny

“Rooster” Byron, so he could at-

tend the funeral in California.

“I hope you understand my

need to grieve my beloved

brother, and thank you for

your support at this time,” he

said in a statement. Rylance,

regarded by many as Brit-

ain’s greatest living actor, was born in

Kent in 1960 but spent his child-

hood in the United States with his

brother and younger sister Susan-

nah Waters, a writer and

director. Their parents,

David and Anne, moved to

America in the early 1960s.

Rylance’s stepdaughter,

Nataasha van Kampen, a

film-maker and produc-

tion designer, died at 28 of a

suspected brain haemorrhage

on a flight to London from New

York on July 1, 2012.

Stones land £50m for drama

David Sanderson Arts Correspondent

Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are

believed to be set to make about

£50 million from a television drama on

the Rolling Stones.

The planned 16-part series is due to

focus on the band from their formation

in 1962 to 1974 and will cover key

moments such as the death of Brian

Jones and the group’s hedonistic exile

in the south of France in the early 1970s.

According to the Daily Mail, the

creators of the series have agreed to pay

Jagger and Richards about £50 million

for rights to their songs and recollec-

tions. It is to be made by the British

company Left Bank Pictures, which

produced the Netflix drama The Crown

and should go into production in 2024.

It will be shown on the Disney-owned

FX channel.

The band is on a global tour at

present. According to the Daily Mail,

the band see the series as “their legacy”.

It quoted a friend of the Stones as say-

ing: “When they can’t tour any more,

this will remain alongside the music.”

The Stones take me back to the

Middle Ages, Carol Midgley, page 25