The first proper hot spell of 2026 caught most of the country off guard. Temperatures hit 35.1°C at Kew Gardens in late May, the hottest May day ever recorded in the UK, beating a record that had stood since 1944. Paddling pools came out of the loft, beer gardens filled up, and by the following week a fair number of people were nursing the kind of pink shoulders that mean a summer has properly started.
It does not have to be that way. Most sunburn in this country is avoidable, and the advice for avoiding it has quietly moved on from the single bottle of factor 15 that previous generations relied on. With the Met Office’s three-month outlook stating that “hot conditions are more likely than usual for the UK overall this summer” and that “there is an increased chance of heatwave conditions developing at times”, it is worth getting the basics right now.
Here is what the people who actually study this, the NHS, Cancer Research UK and the British Association of Dermatologists, recommend.
Clothes first, cream second
This is the part most people get backwards. The instinct is to reach for the sun cream as the sole sun protection tool, and forget about covering up properly with clothing. Dermatologists say it should be the other way round. The British Association of Dermatologists puts it plainly in its guidance: “shade and protective clothing should be your first line of defence against the sun”, with suncream filling in the gaps on skin that clothes cannot cover.
The logic is simple. Suncream rubs off, washes off in water, and almost nobody applies enough of it. A garment does its job all day without being topped up. That is why more adults are turning to swimwear and cover-ups with a tested UPF rating, the fabric equivalent of SPF. The leading British sun protection clothing specialist, equatorsun, a family-run brand that also offers UV swimwear and clothing for women, report rising demand from people in their 30s, 40s and 50s, particularly those who have had a mole removed or have a family history of skin cancer.
It helps to know what the rating means. UPF 50+ clothing blocks at least 98 per cent of UV, letting through only one-fiftieth. A standard white cotton T-shirt is rated at roughly UPF 5, and drops further when it gets wet, which means about a fifth of UV passes straight through it. That is the gap most people never realise is there.
What about babies under six months?
This is where the advice is strictest, and where it matters most. NHS guidance is unambiguous: “Babies under 6 months old should be kept out of direct sunlight,” and “sunscreen is not recommended for babies under 6 months.” That leaves shade and clothing as the only tools on the table, which is why so many parents are shopping at equatorsun for UV swimwear for babies and toddlers, the all-in-one suits with long sleeves and high necks that cover almost everything bar the hands and face.
For older babies and toddlers, the NHS still advises keeping them out of direct sun where possible, especially between 11am and 3pm when the sun is at its strongest. Cover exposed skin with at least SPF 30 sunscreen, use a wide-brimmed or legionnaire-style hat that shades the neck and ears, and keep them in the shade where you can. The British Association of Dermatologists specifically recommends a legionnaire-style hat over a baseball cap, because the latter leaves the ears and neck exposed.
Know how strong the sun actually is
Strong enough to matter, more often than people think. Monitoring data published by DEFRA shows that “the maximum UVI in mid-summer in the UK is 8”, usually recorded in Cornwall around the summer solstice. Sun protection is generally recommended once the UV index reaches 3. Cancer Research UK notes that the sun in the UK can be strong enough to damage skin from mid-March to mid-October, and that over 90 per cent of UV can pass through cloud.
So the British habit of only reaching for the cream when it feels hot has the science backwards. UV is driven by the angle of the sun and the level of cloud, not by how warm it feels. A bright, cool day in May can carry more UV than a muggy, overcast one in August. The free Met Office weather app shows the daily UV index for your area, which is the simplest way to judge whether you need to bother.
The bit that tends to focus parents’ minds
There is a long-term reason to take children’s sun exposure seriously, beyond avoiding a sore weekend. According to the charity Melanoma Focus, “one blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence more than doubles your chances of developing melanoma skin cancer later in life.” That risk does not fade. It sits there for decades.
It is worth keeping in perspective alongside the wider picture. Cancer Research UK reported in May that melanoma cases in the UK have reached a record high, around 21,000 a year, and that the large majority of cases are preventable. “The fact that most of these cases are preventable underlines the importance of people taking sun safety seriously,” said the charity’s chief executive Michelle Mitchell.
A sensible summer, not a cancelled one
None of this means hiding indoors. The NHS still encourages getting outside, and a little sun is the easiest way to top up vitamin D. The goal is just to enjoy the warm weather without the burn.
In practice that comes down to a handful of habits. Spend the strongest part of the day, late morning to mid-afternoon, in the shade where you can. Put small children in clothing that covers them and a hat that shades the neck. Use a generous amount of at least SPF 30 with good UVA protection on any skin left exposed, and reapply it after swimming. Check the UV index rather than the thermometer. And keep babies under six months out of direct sun altogether.
After the May the country has just had, and with a summer the forecasters expect to run hotter than usual, those are worth getting into place now, before the next hot spell arrives unannounced.
