A TOP health professional has warned about the possible dangers of over-exposure to the sun due to the “taps aff” culture.
NHS Scotland clinical director Professor Jason Leitch said: “We don’t want to be the killjoy national health service telling everybody not to do anything, but maybe as you walk around Glasgow the ‘taps aff’ culture might not be something that we should encourage too much.
“As soon as the sun comes out we wear shorts, no tops and flip-flops – we might have to reconsider that if we’re going to have consistent hot weather over the next few years.”
READ MORE: Temperatures to reach nearly 30C as Scottish heatwave continues
Prof Leitch added: “Reasonable exposure to the sun is a good thing. We want people to be physically active in the parks and play football with their kids, of course.
“But we also want them to be cautious, we want them to use common-sense rules that they already know.
“I think the joke of Scotland being the taps aff culture, particularly here in the west perhaps, needs a little bit of a cultural change.
“We should be slightly more cautious in the sun, if the sun is going to be a consistent challenge over our summers.”
The health advice came on the hottest day of the year for many parts of Scotland and certainly the hottest day in the UK with temperatures of 35C in West London.
READ MORE: Temperatures in Scotland hit 15-year record high
Meanwhile Scottish Water say they have no plans at the moment to introduce hosepipe bans or other restrictions on usage of water but have asked consumers to “use water wisely” in the current heatwave.
A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “We are continuing to closely monitor water levels across the country and managing our network to ensure there is no impact on customers’ supplies.
“While there are currently no issues and no restrictions in place, we are continuing to ask customers across the country to use water wisely during this period of dry and warm weather. We’d urge everyone to use water wisely.
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