It's the most wonderful time of the year - except for an unlucky few.

With the sun blazing and highs of 27 degrees forecast, it's easy to spot hay fever sufferers. We're the ones clutching a balled up tissue, peering out at the world through eyelids like slits and slinking back off indoors. Hay fever is easy to dismiss as just sneezing but if you get it yourself you'll know how much of a dose it can be. Streaming, itchy red eyes; a dry, scratchy throat; a puffy, dry face and even fatigue (all the sneezing and eye-rubbing is exhausting) add up to make it super-debilitating. Hay fever is thought to affect up to one in five Irish people. If you're one of these, you'll have tried everything from antihistamines and throat sprays to sunglasses or even an injection from your GP. Something that's helped me massively in the past couple of years is the humble tub of Vaseline. I put a layer of it around the inside of my nostrils right up to the rim when the pollen count is high. It's not the sexiest look but it helps to trap pollen spores in the air and stop them getting into your airwaves. Some people also dab some on the inner corners of their eyes, another point where allergens can get into your system. I'll do this in the morning if I know it's going to be a high-pollen day as it works best as a preventative measure rather than a cure. One to try if you're crippled during the heatwave.