Sunburn Test

Never Used to Get Sunburn Anyway, And Apparently I Still Don't

I decided I should check that I still can't get sunburned.

Summer has been cold and rainy so far, and I normally try to stay out of direct sunlight anyway. I like to sit under parasols and look out at the sunshine, rather than bathe in it.

My face, hands and forearms are tanned a light brown, but the rest of me was a uniform ghastly white three days ago.

But we're now having a bit of a heatwave. It's not that hot up here in the North, maybe 25C-30C, but we're 250 meters above sea level, the skies are clear and the sun is shining fiercely. I actually saw a mirage today looking along the road surface.

So from 1400-1900 in the afternoon I've been walking around or sitting in the local pub beer garden directly in the sun without my shirt on. For the last three days. No suncream of any kind, although I am wearing my wide-brimmed cricket hat most of the time to keep the sun out of my eyes.

No reddening or itching or anything, but the upper surface of my chest is now the same colour as my face and hands, and the rest of my torso is now slightly darker than my legs, which still haven't seen the sun since last year.

And there's no feeling that I should cover up or get out of the sun. The feel of sunshine on skin is just comfortable and cool.

It's hard to imagine brighter sunshine here. I don't think it would be possible for me to get sunburned in England.