No matter how long the good weather sticks around for, it's important to take care in the sun. Here are some top tips for staying safe in the sun. 

Shade

The best way to protect your skin from the sun's UV rays is to spend time in the shade. If you can't find shade, wear loose clothing, a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, this will protect your skin, head and sight. 

Remember: On sunny days try to avoid being outdoors for long periods from 11am to 3pm when UV radiation is highest. 

To watch the UV exposure video, click here.

Clothing 

Clothing is one of the best ways to protect your skin from the sun.

When picking clothes: Choose lightweight fabrics and light colours, fabrics with a tight weave (cotton, hemp or linen) give more protection. Long sleeves, collars, long trousers or long skirts give greater protection and old, worn or wet clothing may give less protection.

Sunglasses 

Eyes, like skin, are vulnerable to damage from UV rays. Damage from the sun or sunbeds might not been seen or felt but can build up over time. Short-term effects of over-exposure to UV rays include mild irritations such as excessive blinking, swelling or difficulty looking at strong sunlight. Over-exposure can also cause sunburn of the cornea, as in snow blindness or welders’ flash burns.

Over long periods over-exposure to UV rays can result in more serious damage to the eyes, such as cataracts, cancer of the conjunctiva (the membrane covering the white of the eye) and skin cancer of the eyelids and around the eyes.

Always buy sunglasses from a reputable supplier. When choosing sunglasses look for one of the following:

• ‘CE Mark’ and British Standard (BS EN 1836:1997)
• UV 400 label
• 100% UV protection

Sunglasses should cut out 75-90% of visible light. To find out if they are dark enough, stand in front of a mirror – if you can see your eyes easily through the lenses, they probably won’t provide enough protection.

Make sure that the glasses give protection at the side of the eye, for example choose wraparound styles. If you wear corrective lenses ask your optician for advice on UV-protective coating, attachable protective shades or prescription sunglasses.

Hats 

Common sites of skin cancers are the neck, forehead, face, nose and ears. For most of us, these areas are most exposed and receive more UV than other parts of the body. Hats are great for protecting your ears, neck and face – always wear one along with other protection.

Sunscreen

Sunscreen alone will not protect us completely from sun damage. However, they can be useful for protecting the parts of skin we can’t shade or cover. This is why we recommend using sunscreens together with shade or clothing to avoid getting too much UV exposure.

To find out more on how to stay safe in the sun, follow the link - www.careinthesun.org

Why not test your sun awareness knowledge? To give it a try, click here.