Hay fever sufferers have the warmer winter to blame for the fast start to the sneeze season as pollen blankets the region.

The Bay of Plenty and Coromandel has this week been covered in a dusting of pollen, evident on the roads, puddles and our car windscreens.

Hay fever sufferers are being warned of an early start to the hay fever season.

The MetService forecasted at the beginning of the week that winds were expected to pick up, 'and so will the pollen”.

'After the cold of late July and early to mid-August the pollen has suddenly arrived - almost entirely from pine,” says David Fountain PhD, Honorary Research Associate, Massey University New Zealand.

'The great NZ pine pollen season is here and will spread to all regions over the next few weeks.”

Massey Universtiy pollen researcher Kat Holt says some plants were producing more pollen, partially because of the warmer winter, and this could be triggering a reaction in more people than usual.

She says international research showed pollen seasons are starting earlier around the world, as winters grow milder.

- Additional reporting by Stuff.co.nz