An amber heat health alert has been issued for Cumbria until 9am on Monday.
It’s important that you know how to stay safe in the sun – this is particularly important for those with long term health conditions, those who are older and for babies and youngsters.
The main risks are caused by not drinking enough water and overheating; which can make symptoms worse for people who already have problems with their heart or breathing.
Follow these sun safety tips:
Seek Shade
Spend time in the shade when the sun is strongest. In the UK, this is between 11am and 3pm from March to October.
Hydrate
By the time you start feeling thirsty, you are already becoming dehydrated. It’s important that you drink water or non-alcoholic fluid at regular intervals throughout the day. You should aim to drink around 1.5 - 2 litres (around 8 - 10 200ml glasses) of fluid per day to stay hydrated.
Remember to drink more when you spend time in hot environments, or when you exercise or increase your activity levels. You should always carry water when travelling.
Protect your skin
You should wear sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 to protect against UVB and make sure it has at least 4-star UVA protection. These are available at low cost from supermarkets.
Make sure you put enough sunscreen on. As a guide for an adult this means around two teaspoonful’s of sunscreen if you're just covering your head, arms and neck. Reapply sunscreen regularly throughout the day even if the bottle says ‘once a day’ or ‘water resistant’.
Sunscreen can rub, sweat or wash off. It’s especially important to reapply after towelling dry. And reapplying helps avoid missing bits of skin.
Don’t store sunscreens in very hot places as extreme heat can ruin their protective chemicals.
Check the expiry date on your sunscreen before you use it. Look for a symbol on the pot with the letter M and a number which shows the number of months the sunscreen will last once it’s been opened.
Do not rely on sunscreen alone to protect yourself from the sun. Wear suitable clothing and spend time in the shade particularly when the sun's at its hottest.
Make sure you:
- Do not burn – if you do take yourself out of the sun immediately, stay hydrated, take a cool shower and moisturise. Seek advice from a pharmacist if you need to.
- Cover up with suitable clothing and sunglasses
- Take extra care with children
- NHS England recommend that you use at least factor 30 sunscreen
Advice for children
It’s important to remember that babies less than six-months-old should be kept out of direct sunlight. Their skin is sensitive and contains less melanin than in older children. Melanin is the pigment that gives skin, hair and eyes their colour, and provides some protection from the sun.
Consultant Paediatrician Dr Katarina Berankova, from NCIC, explains it is not uncommon to see children at the beginning of summer with moderate to severe sunburn.
She said: “Most typically, these are older children who get distracted in play forgetting about appropriate sun protection. It is very important that even in school age children and teenagers their parents keep reminding them to use the sunscreen and avoid direct sunlight when it is at its highest level in the middle of the day.
“Mild sunburns can be treated with application of creams containing Panthenol which provide cooling effect and help skin to recover. Any deeper sunburns (if forming blisters or if there are secretions from damaged skin) should be reviewed as soon as possible by GP or in A&E. They might require more specialised treatment and sterile dressing depending on the depth and extent of the sunburns. As they are also quite painful, appropriate painkillers should be used to decrease the distress of a child.”
Not treating sunburn can lead to problems later in life.
Katarina said: “Skin has a memory and every insult sustained during life will leave some trace in it. Repeated damage caused by sunburn can lead to a variety of chronic skin problems from loss of elasticity to malignant melanoma. It is therefore essential to protect the sensitive skin of the youngest ones as it is more prone to damage which in long-term run can lead to significant problems in later age.”
For more advice on staying safe in the heat, visit the NHS website at www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/heatwave-how-to-cope-in-hot-weather/.