Met Éireann and the Irish Cancer Society have teamed up to include sunburn warnings in weather forecasts.
When sunburn risk is high, warnings will be broadcast across television and radio and will be printed in newspapers. Sunburn risk is highest when the ozone layer is at its thinnest allowing ultra-violet rays through.
Thick cloud cover and showers was all the first day of summer had to offer.
Forecasts will explain how long it is safe to stay in the sun before burning will occur on the basis of an average skin type.
Avril Gillatt of the Irish Cancer Society says of the new initiative,
The message will be burn time is for twenty minutes and that will apply to normal, average people's skin type.
Skin cancer kills up to seven thousand people a year in Ireland.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 1 May 1996. The reporter is Carole Coleman.
