Twitter maps plot hay fever hotspots

Twitter is being used by Londoners in the battle against hay fever.

Tissue maker Kleenex is using the networking site to create an online hay fever map which locates pollen hotspots. These will be plotted using information posted by Tweeters in their 140-character messages.

Kleenex is encouraging sufferers to make updates about the strength of their symptoms and postcode, adding the tag "atishoo" to their tweet. The company then creates an ever-updating map using Google Maps.

With the bulk of British Twitter users based in London, the capital's map is expected to develop rapidly.

Martina Jezdikova, brand manager of Kleenex, said: "The hay fever season is generally a miserable time for many Londoners but this map allows those in high pollen-count areas to prepare themselves adequately."

Londoners tend to suffer more because of high levels of air pollution.

Colour key:

Blue - Low
Green - Low-Medium
Yellow- Medium
Orange - Medium-High
Red - High

Simply send a Tweet with the first half of your postcode, how bad your hayfever is (from 1-5). You'll also need to add a tag, #atishoo so that we can find your tweet.

It should look like this:
#atishoo SE1 3/5