Warning to stay safe in the sun when holidaying in the UK
Skin cancer experts warn us not to let our guard down
Last updated 24th May 2022
There's a warning from skin cancer experts for people not to let their guard down in the UK sunshine.
Thousands of people are having their half-term breaks in the UK and are planning summer stay-cations due to the uncertainty around foreign holidays as lockdown eases.
Applying skin protection in the sun isn't something that's automatically done in the UK though:
"The problem is we will automatically buy reasonable sun cream if we're thinking about leaving the country, yet we go outside here and think it's just Britain, it's not going to do us any damage," says Gill Nuttall, founder of Melanoma UK.
"The sunshine is the same in the UK as it is in Spain, but that message just doesn't seem to get through."
16,000 melanoma skin cancer cases a year
Around 16,000 new cases of Melanoma skin cancer are diagnosed every year in the UK.
A recent global survey of over 700 dermatologists conducted by the Global Melanoma Coalition has revealed the shocking impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the detection of melanoma skin cancer.
Compared to a normal year of performing patient skin examinations, dermatologists estimate that one fifth (21%) of melanomas may have gone undiagnosed in 2020, with one third (33.6%) of dermatological appointments missed due to the pandemic.
Dermatologists expect 4358 melanomas went undetected in the United Kingdom last year alone.
For more information head to Melanoma UK's website.