Royal Stoke skin cancer consultant warns to stay safe in the sunshine
Fears are that too many are letting their guard down in the warm weather
People across Staffordshire and Cheshire are being urged to be safe when enjoying the sunshine - as new figures show almost 2,500 people die in the UK every year from skin melanomas.
Skin cancer experts are warning people not to let their guard down whilst the weather is warm, even if the sky looks overcast or cloudy.
It's as thousands of people enjoy the last bit of their half-term breaks, with many now planning summer stay-cations due to the uncertainty around foreign holidays.
Wayne Jaffe is the lead specialist and consultant in skin cancer at the Royal Stoke Hospital and Chair of the Skin Cancer Expert Advisory Group for the West Midlands.
"Skin cancer is the biggest cause of cancer in this country. The most serious - malignant melanoma - is the fifth most common cause of skin cancer deaths." he said.
"When people do go away to the beach, or for a long walk in the Peak District pack some cream - however, you have to reapply it every two hours or so. You have to reapply it if you've been in a swimming pool or got wet or sweaty.
"Think about wearing a wide brimmed hat, clothing or some protection factor clothing and of course, Sunblock Protection Factor 30 or above - and most importantly get into the habit of using sun protection everyday.
"The easiest way to do it is to use a moisturiser with Protection Factor."
"The big risk is wanting to catch up a month or two of lack of sunshine, basically trying to get brown in 24 hours, which does not happen and people are putting themselves at risk of forming skin cancer in the future.
"It's just a matter of getting into the mindset that yes, the sun is lovely in small doses, however, can be very harmful in large doses."
"Sun block will help reduce the amount of damage you're causing to your skin." added Wayne.
"Tweeting and Instagramming photographs of how burnt you are and as red as a lobster, going into sunbeds which are carcinogenic devices, people do it - and actually it's not good for society as a whole because these mostly young people will as they get older be presenting with skin cancers.
"Keep a small container of some cream in your handbag, your rucksack or in your pockets. There are many creams you can buy in small sachets and little tubes. It's just a matter of being conscious."
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," said 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.