A VIRAL tweet last week really summed up a nation's feelings. It's literally like the sun has been dropped on our head, it said. We have gingers who won't make it.

Scots are gloriously jovial about how just how terrible they are in hot weather, a weakness celebrated. Famously adverse to high temperatures, even being taps aff and wandering city streets with nothing but shorts and trainers on doesn't seem to cool people sufficiently.

This past week has been particularly tough as temperatures climbed to 29 degrees and no thought was given to stoicism as people wilted and whined about the heat.

Other countries, where heat is not so unusual as to be a national talking point, have air conditioning and so heat relief is swift and frequent. You need only endure hot sun while dipping from place to place, with cold air a regular refuge.

Air conditioning, though, is appalling for the environment and, for that reason, we should be glad not to have so much of it.

We are, though, going to have to become better used to enduring the hot weather. Heat waves are going to become more frequent and more ferocious as the world hots up and global warming continues to take its toll.

Which brings us to sunscreen. Are we doing it right, as a nation?

Sitting on a beach on the Kintyre peninsula recently, I was idly reading the back of my sunscreen bottle when I was taken aback by these words: "Bottle contains enough for six applications for an average sized body." What? I've been using this sunscreen since last year.

Growing up in Australia, discussions about sun protection were a routine part of life. I can still remember Sid the Seagull singing the Slip, Slop, Slap slogan: slip on a shirt, slop on the sunscreen, slap on a hat. My primary school had a no hat, no play policy - you wore your hat in the playground or you didn't go outdoors at all.

Arrogantly, I thought I was a savvy sunscreen wearer. Apply about 15 to 20 minutes before going out, apply it again in the sunshine and then apply again every couple of hours while outdoors.

I don't leave the house without SPF 50 on my face and on sunny days I do all the other exposed bits too. I like Australian formulations as Australia regulates the active ingredients in sunscreens in a similar way to medicines and the country has some of the strictest regulations in the world.

But if my sunscreen bottle is only enough for six applications, well, I've been seriously skimping.

Which might explain why I ended up with one sunburned arm a couple of weeks ago, to my great shame. I shared a photo of the damage in a Twitter thread about sunburn and was mortified to have the MP Dr Philippa Whitford appear to tell me to take better care. I thought I had been.

In May this year new figures from the Scottish Cancer Registry showed skin melanoma has risen in the past decade in Scotland to become the most frequent cancer killer in young adults.

Health services are affected as more than 50 per cent of specialist dermatology is directed towards the diagnosis and treatment of suspected skin cancers.

When Cancer Research UK surveyed parents, it found that the majority were diligent about putting sun protection on their children but didn't set a positive example by failing to protect themselves too. It also found that people were more likely to be burned in their back garden than abroad because Scots will wear sunscreen on holiday but don't bother when they're at home.

Abroad, we know the advice - avoid the sun from 10am til 3pm, cover up, stay cool. But a glance around Glasgow this past week shows people ignore sun safety messages. Parks full of people sun baking in the midday heat, hot pink skin exposed and vulnerable.

Excitement at rare sunny spells is so understandable but, as sunny spells become more common and more intense, is it time for an Australian-style sun safety campaign with clear messaging about how to avoid skin damage, the most effective ways to use sunscreen and guidance as to the difference between SPF, UVA and UVB?

It might seem silly to think about when the rain is lashing or the snow is falling but our climate is changing, and our attitudes and priorities are going to have to change too.