As the scorching temperatures bake Bournemouth and the rest of Europe, this month's report is on protecting yourself from the Sun. Many people do not realise just how powerful the Sun can be in relatively cool countries like Britain - you can even get first degree burns!

What MOO says...

• Watch your weather forecast, particularly the universal Sun Index given out by the BBC and other broadcasts. If you have light skin, then should start to protect yourself when the index is 4 or higher.

• Burning times are only approximate to the average type of skin, but to find the time your skin is protected, multiply burning time by the factor of skin cream. For instance, a burning of 10 minutes, and a factor 4 suncream means that you should only stay in the Sun for about 40 minutes before adding more cream or covering up.

• Check whether your skin cream is waterproof. If not, you will have to add cream every time after submersion in water.

• Sun cream has got stronger more recently because of worries of skin cancer, so it is not uncommon to see factors of 20, 30 or even 40!

• Spend plenty of time in the shade and drink plenty of water as you sweat more in the summer. Too long in the sun means that salt levels in the body fall too low, causing drowsiness, sickness and headaches. To replace this salt, either go to a pharmacy and get some replacement tablets or make you own drink of half a teaspoon of salt for a drink of half a litre. You can add sugars if you wish to make it taste nicer.

• There are also several things to do if you get burnt. Keep the area which is burnt cool as burning carries on even when you are out of the sun. This is best done by applying lots of water to the burns. You can then add an aftersun cream, available from pharmacies. Oil based ones are better.

... but trust us on the sunscreen!