If you've been having sneezing fits brought on by hay fever and allergies recently, there may be a consolation to Canberra's high pollen count: it leads to more spectacular sunsets.
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In case you haven't looked skyward in the evening or your friends haven't inundated your social media feeds with photos of it this week, Canberra's skies have turned on a show as the sun's gone down.
But the string of stunning sunsets in recent days hasn't been accidental, with several conditions lining up perfectly to produce vivid colours in the Canberra sky.
Weatherzone senior meteorologist Jacob Cronje said the high pollen count had been one of those factors.
"Nice sunsets require some mid-level cloud in the atmosphere, and we also require things such as suspended dust particles or things like pollen that's fairly settled in the air mass," Mr Cronje said.
"If the wind's not too strong, the particles are suspended in the air so there's things to reflect the sun rays and it interacts with them.
"People who suffer from asthma may not be happy, but the pollen particles help to make a pretty sunset."
The meteorologist said conditions in the nation's capital this week had been perfect for the optimal sunset.
He said the warm temperatures that had been hitting the east coast that caused the mercury to climb into the 30s had also contributed.
"That heat sent a cold front through, and that leads to an increase of the type of clouds needed for a good sunset," Mr Cronje said.
Recent sunsets have been a dream for skygazers and social media users, but photographing them can be challenging, according to Irene Lorbergs.
Ms Lorbergs has run the Canberra School of Photography for more than 25 years, and said taking the perfect shot takes patience.
"With sunset photos, there's all this extra light you're dealing with, so that can be a problem," Ms Lorbergs said.
"Our eyes can see in dark areas, and so people just point and shoot and think the camera can see what we can see, but quite often we're disappointed with the shots."
The photography teacher said the best results came from including other features and some of the best photos could be taken on smart phones.
"It always look really good if you have something between you and the sun, something like a bridge or a tree or water in the foreground and then you get beautiful reflections," Ms Lorbergs said.
"The best places to take sunset photos are around Mount Ainslie, or the back of the Hyatt Hotel around Yarralumla or the arboretum."
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