UK Tanning Season Begins Now!

[Harve]

I've noticed that the Met Office have given Buxton a "moderate" UV index of 4 for Saturday - during very poor visibility, heavy snow, easterly gales and a temperature of -2c.

[Summer Sun]

The met office have given Darlo a UV index of 3 for this afternoon and again on Easter Monday from 13:00 to 16:00

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/darlington#?tab=fiveDay&fcTime=1364770800

[Cheshire Freeze]

Tanning doesn't interest me. A few years ago I go so burnt (took my top off and lay in the park for 3 hours), didn't feel so bad at first......until the burn developed and then it was agony. By far the most painful thing I'd experienced. I couldn't lie down, could barely walk without the movement of air causing more pain. Went to the pharmacist who said he'd never seen a burn so bad from the sun. I was in agony for a week.....at times I was in tears from the pain. Never again!

I'm just better suited to the cold and the weaker sun of the more Nly latitudes

Edited March 30, 2013 by CreweCold

[ARW WeatherMan]

Oh come on.. This is just getting silly now! I know it's only JUST April but this time last year I was a lovely golden colour and had been tanning since the end of Feb! This year, my skin hasn't even seen the sun. It's meant to be sunny all day tomorrow and - despite the 30mph gusts of wind and the forecast high of 8oC - I am actually tempted to go out in the garden and catch some rays, it was lovely and warm in the bit of mid day sun we had earlier today! We will see! but UV is predicted a 4 for here tomorrow by Accuweather and I will find it hard to resist!

[Mark Neal.]

Interestingly the last few days and i have noticed last two weeks, when the sun has come out, it has felt very nice... Not that i'm searching for the shorts and flip flops just yet..

[Derp Patrol]

Oh come on.. This is just getting silly now! I know it's only JUST April but this time last year I was a lovely golden colour and had been tanning since the end of Feb! This year, my skin hasn't even seen the sun. It's meant to be sunny all day tomorrow and - despite the 30mph gusts of wind and the forecast high of 8oC - I am actually tempted to go out in the garden and catch some rays, it was lovely and warm in the bit of mid day sun we had earlier today! We will see! but UV is predicted a 4 for here tomorrow by Accuweather and I will find it hard to resist!

Don't worry I will be doing the same! Need some vitamin D and the winter has taken away my tan from last summer, I love being tanned it just feels much healthier and makes my skin look 100x better

[Nick L]

Never seen the appeal of tanning, basically saying "come on sunshine, give me skin cancer!". I've been sunburnt in March before, not cool! Had a holiday in Florida pretty much ruined by sunburn.

[MP-R]

I'm a big fan of catching the rays but in moderation, not like some of the lobsters that must sit out for hours on end like a spitroast. Fortunately I go brown very quickly, and with enough care taken with appropriate sun tan lotion, I normally avoid the unpleasant burning sensation or disgusting peeling episode between. Being brown and looking healthy just appeals more to me than being pasty white, which with my very dark hair, is ever more evident in winter.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Miguel Hugo Roberto

[Backtrack]

UV index is now 3 pretty much daily in England & Wales. Sunny few days ahead, although I won't catch the sun yet, will be end of April before I notice a change.

[Vince Coombes]

I have the exact facts somewhere from Retron on two. I think you start getting sunburn when the sun exceeds 30 degrees off the horizon. so mid october to mid feb in the UK = no tan

[ARW WeatherMan]

Don't worry I will be doing the same! Need some vitamin D and the winter has taken away my tan from last summer, I love being tanned it just feels much healthier and makes my skin look 100x better

I DID brave it and I did get a tan! Finally! Although I did have a t-shirt and a shirt on which meant it was only my arms that tanned..... I do still have my tan from last summer thankfully but only on my stomach and legs! The met-office is a poor place to go for UV forecasts I think, it doesn't seem to vary much and seems very set on the time of year determining how strong the sun should be and doesn't seem to factor in how thick the Ozone layer is or anything like that, I know the UV was around 4 during the day otherwise I simply wouldn't have gone so brown.. Check these out!

http://www.uvawareness.com/uv-index/uv-index.php?location=al1 <<<(Best)

http://www.temis.nl/uvradiation/nrt/uvindex.php?lon=-0.34&lat=51.75

and also accuweather

[Derp Patrol]

I DID brave it and I did get a tan! Finally! Although I did have a t-shirt and a shirt on which meant it was only my arms that tanned..... I do still have my tan from last summer thankfully but only on my stomach and legs! The met-office is a poor place to go for UV forecasts I think, it doesn't seem to vary much and seems very set on the time of year determining how strong the sun should be and doesn't seem to factor in how thick the Ozone layer is or anything like that, I know the UV was around 4 during the day otherwise I simply wouldn't have gone so brown.. Check these out!

http://www.uvawarene...hp?location=al1 <<<(Best)

http://www.temis.nl/...-0.34&lat=51.75

and also accuweather

Yes I also find that the MET isn't so good for UV.. those sites are much better!

I was out in the sun for an hour and a half but I didn't manage to get a tan, It takes my skin a long time to tan with a weak sun, and I do still have tan lines from last summer so I guess those are the reasons why! In a few weeks when the UV index starts hitting 5 it should be easier to tan!

[Tamara]

Tanning doesn't interest me. A few years ago I go so burnt (took my top off and lay in the park for 3 hours), didn't feel so bad at first......until the burn developed and then it was agony. By far the most painful thing I'd experienced. I couldn't lie down, could barely walk without the movement of air causing more pain. Went to the pharmacist who said he'd never seen a burn so bad from the sun. I was in agony for a week.....at times I was in tears from the pain. Never again!

I'm just better suited to the cold and the weaker sun of the more Nly latitudes

Thankfully tanning is less fashionable nowadays than it used to be. There is nothing wrong with those who still wish to get some colour from the sun, indeed some very gentle exposure to the sun with proper full protection is actually beneficial.

When the sun's UV-B rays hit the skin, a reaction takes place that enables skin cells to manufacture vitamin D. If you're fair skinned, experts say going outside for approx 10 minutes in the midday sun—in sensible wear with no sunscreen—will give you enough radiation to produce sufficient daily intake of the vitamin.

Vitamin D is essential to help protect the heart. Dark-skinned individuals and the elderly also produce less vitamin D, and many folks don't get enough of the nutrient from dietary sources like fatty fish and fortified milk.

IMO it is very arguable whether one should spend any time at all in the sun without protection, so personally I would take that expert advice very cautiously and use sun screen at all times

I have a full swimsuit for swimming purposes and always cover my arms and shoulders when I am not in the pool and also have some cut off jeans, long skirt or beach style dress or whatever to put on over the swimsuit afterwards to protect my legs. Basically sun bathing is not an activity for me at all - plus I find I get restless and bored anyway within no time at all. So going for a walk, the shade, a book and a refreshing drink passes the time.

Sunburn is painful indeed and long after the pain has subsided the longer term risks are much worse in terms of paying a price. I overdid the sun at times when I was younger - one always hopes that the lessons are learned soon enough. That applies to very many of us

[95 Degrees]

The Sun may be harmful and dangerous but it is very human to want to power of the sun as an energy source, it is after all one of the big factors that keeps life therefore it is natural to want it's UV radiation, providing precautions are taken, shame I have quite pale skin but can't get enough of a hot, intense sun.

[Derp Patrol]

I find it quite hard to tan in the UK anyway, the sun is not very strong in this country at all. I guess I'm lucky because I rarely burn, I tend to go brown, although I did burn when I went to Morocco in July with no sun cream on the first day when the UV index was about 13 - a bit silly.

[ARW WeatherMan]

I tan way to much but I do tan very quickly, I will post pictures of my tan last summer if I can and of the tan I got the other day ) My skin is very strange though because I will get a tan line and then after a few hours it REALLY goes down amd will be half as dark as it was when I had just been exposed, the half of the tan will then stay for quite long though

[ARW WeatherMan]

This was the other day, was out there between 12-2pm

[Evening thunder]

A nearby site that records sunshine is showing a UV index of 7 at the moment near me! (Davis VP2 sensors) I was a bit suspicious so did a google and found this site;

http://www.temis.nl/uvradiation/UVI/uvief0_e.gif

suggesting a index of near 7 today.

 

The links posted by ARW WeatherMan on the previous page also show 'high to very high' UV index colors over the south of the country, and the other one a max of 6.8 for my location today.

If these are right, so much for the Met Office predicted index of 3 today! I used to think 7 or 8 was the highest we got in the summer, but increasingly have been thinking we sometimes could get a 9-10 UV index if we can get 7 now?

 

Personally I don't tan so am not all that interested in sitting out in the sun, but I like to follow UV indexes like many weather parameters and like to feel strong sun occasionally.
 
 

[hillbilly]

i guess due to the cold and poor sunshine levels when we get our first very warm sunny day a lot of people are going to get caught out

[95 Degrees]

A nearby site that records sunshine is showing a UV index of 7 at the moment near me! (Davis VP2 sensors) I was a bit suspicious so did a google and found this site;

http://www.temis.nl/uvradiation/UVI/uvief0_e.gif

suggesting a index of near 7 today.

 

The links posted by ARW WeatherMan on the previous page also show 'high to very high' UV index colors over the south of the country, and the other one a max of 6.8 for my location today.

If these are right, so much for the Met Office predicted index of 3 today! I used to think 7 or 8 was the highest we got in the summer, but increasingly have been thinking we sometimes could get a 9-10 UV index if we can get 7 now?

 

Personally I don't tan so am not all that interested in sitting out in the sun, but I like to follow UV indexes like many weather parameters and like to feel strong sun occasionally.

 

 

Met Office not the best for UV's, UV awareness I find pretty accurate and it takes into account pollution levels and altitude, I suppose it could've been a UV 6 today but the atmosphere must of been very clear for that and I think UV-9 and certainly UV10 might be beyond anywhere above 47N apart from on high mountains. 

[SomeLikeItHot]

Well around were I live now its tanning season all year round! Spray on of course.

 

I've been badly sunburned a couple of times in Australia in my youth to the point my back and shoulders blistered and the skin peeled off a day or two later I can't really see much attraction in it. People get hospitalized in Oz from it reasonably regularly particularly British backpackers who don't appreciate what 15-20 degrees of latitude and a thinner ozone layer can do - but locals too of course. Usually you are suffering severe dehydration as part of it.

 

Anyway I find it one of the good things about being in the UK is that I can be out in the sun for 5 minutes without turning into a beetroot.

[Mountain Snow]

I think a lot depends on how often your skin is exposed to the sun. I've been working outdoors year round for the past 7 years. I never wear sunscreen and never burn, just occasional redness on the back of the neck that's gone the next day. This time of year is crucial for building up natural protection so the mid-summer sun just deepens the brown. 

 

The fact that the majority of us work indoors and only see the sun on the odd weekend, then head to Spain for a week and lie all day in the sun is why skin cancer rates are so high. I also get a feeling that a headline in twenty years time might read: 'Scientists find link between skin cancer and sunscreen use'! 

 

Regarding high UV levels, a local private weather station to me has its record high UV at 9.8 on the 22nd June 2009. Quite impressive for this latitude. Link - www.penrithweatherstation.com

[ARW WeatherMan]

A nearby site that records sunshine is showing a UV index of 7 at the moment near me! (Davis VP2 sensors) I was a bit suspicious so did a google and found this site;

http://www.temis.nl/uvradiation/UVI/uvief0_e.gif

suggesting a index of near 7 today.

 

The links posted by ARW WeatherMan on the previous page also show 'high to very high' UV index colors over the south of the country, and the other one a max of 6.8 for my location today.

If these are right, so much for the Met Office predicted index of 3 today! I used to think 7 or 8 was the highest we got in the summer, but increasingly have been thinking we sometimes could get a 9-10 UV index if we can get 7 now?

 

Personally I don't tan so am not all that interested in sitting out in the sun, but I like to follow UV indexes like many weather parameters and like to feel strong sun occasionally.

 

 

Edited April 24, 2013 by ARW WeatherMan

[ARW WeatherMan]

The sun was VERY strong yest! It had seen the UV forecast on UVAware and it was 6.9 for here yest which is EXTREME at any time of year here but I FOOLISHLY layed out in it from 9am till 4pm (Which would normally had been okay for me by now but with no base tan I am burnt like a crisp! I am SO angry at myself! I HAtE burning more than anything but it's happened now, time seemed to just run away with me but I have actually emailed the Met Office on how thier UV forecasts are frequently wrong and they replied but refused to admit that it was way below par a lot of the time...

Will be posting pictures of the burn and may copy and paste the emails if I can find them

[Derp Patrol]

I too saw this, some sites recording UV index of 7 which is usual for June and July. I did also burn yesterday though very quickly so I believe this. Uv indexes of 7 are more usual for areas as far south as mid-southern Spain at this time of year though!