Do you need to wear sun cream in winter in the uk?

I’ll give you a response that is hopefully not taken as woowoo as it sounds.

The answer is yes- but also not always, haha.

Look, the two times of day you want your sun to hit your skin is in the morning around sunrise and evening around sunset. Aim for one or both. Get it on your skin. This is full spectrum light, high in infrared life and low in UV. At other times of the day, I’d limit exposure to full sunlight on skin- though it is still beneficial to see daylight to help ensure we release melatonin at the right times of day to avoid disturbance in sleep later on.

We probably don’t need to be as cautious with the sun as we are but we should absolutely exercise some caution- especially with uv. On a grey day, no sun, in winter I would apply the same principles. Even grey days have enough lux power to help ensure we have good circadian rhythms for sleep. You will struggle to produce vitamin d but even this small exposure can help contribute to it. Supplements may help- but you likely wont need it if you get outside twice a day in the summer.

/r/AskUK Thread