Tick season in the UK: is lounging in long grass safe?

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Harry Styles, Zoë Kravitz, Sarah Pidgeon … celebrities love stretching out on Britain’s lawns and meadows. But with the tick-borne Lyme disease on the rise, is it safe for any of us?

Do we need to worry about ticks in the UK? How serious are the risks associated with the diseases they can carry? Should we avoid rolling around in long grass à la Charli xcx in the video for her latest single, Wink Wink ?

These are questions that have been circulating on social media this week, after the release of the pop star’s video, filmed in Essex, and sightings of celebrity couples Zoë Kravitz and Harry Styles and Sarah Pidgeon and Joe Alwyn lounging in the long grass on Hampstead Heath in London.

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