These are the drinks to avoid to keep hay fever at bay

Here's what you need to know.

The weather might have you thinking of enjoying a glass of rosé out the back this evening, but for many of us this week it's also triggered a serious bout of hay fever. A drink may be all that's on your mind but sadly enjoying you favourite tipple of a summer's evening could make your hay fever symptoms a whole lot worse. It's all down to the fact that alcohol contains histamine, the same substance that's released in the body when you have an allergic reaction. It causes sneezing, itchy eyes, runny nose and other pesky hay fever symptoms. Alcohols can also contain sulphites, a by-product of alcohol production, which are known to set exacerbate hay fever, among other allergies. But thankfully all is not lost, some alcohols are better than others when it comes to hay fever. Asthma UK has warned that darker, fermented drinks are worse for histamine and sulphites.

"White wine and cider tend to have high levels of sulphites, while red wine and some beers have high levels of histamine," it said. "Clear spirits like gin and vodka are better options... as they're very low in histamines and sulphites."

As if we needed another reason to have a G&T...