It's officially 'high', and for fair skin it means burning inside 20 minutes without protection. It's not a stay-indoors level, it's a fully-protect-and-carry-on level: sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, shade where sensible.

What does UV 7 feel like?

Like nothing at all, that's the problem. UV carries no sensation and no relationship to heat. UV 7 on a windy 20°C day and UV 7 on a 35°C scorcher deliver identical doses to your skin.

How long can you stay in the sun at UV 7?

UV 7 · High

UV 7 is the top of the 'high' band, a solid summer mid-morning in Sydney or a spring midday in Perth. At this level, very fair skin has roughly 19 minutes of unprotected time before reddening begins, and even olive skin is inside an hour.

Burn times at UV 7, by skin type

Estimated from typical minimal erythemal doses. Reflection off sand, water or snow shortens all times. SPF 50 times assume proper application and are capped at 4 hours, reapply every 2. Educational only.
Skin type	Sun reaction	Unprotected at UV 7	With SPF 50+
I: Very fair	Always burns, never tans	19 min	4 h+
II: Fair	Burns easily, tans minimally	24 min	4 h+
III: Light to medium	Sometimes burns, tans gradually	33 min	4 h+
IV: Olive to tan	Rarely burns, tans easily	43 min	4 h+
V: Brown	Very rarely burns, tans deeply	57 min	4 h+
VI: Deep brown to black	Almost never burns	1 h 35 min	4 h+

When and where UV 7 happens in Australia

In summer, most Australian capitals pass UV 7 on the way up before 10 am and again on the way down around 3 pm, it's the strength that brackets the extreme midday. As a peak, UV 7 is typical of Melbourne and Hobart in mid-spring, Sydney in early September, and Brisbane's sunnier August days. Darwin's dry-season middays regularly sit at 7 or above in June and July, winter, on paper.

What protection looks like at this level

Everything from UV 6 applies, with tighter timing: fair skin should not do an unprotected school pickup queue, sausage sizzle or ocean swim at this level. If you're planning exercise, this is the strength where moving your run before 8 am or after 5 pm in summer makes a real difference to your dose.

Frequently asked questions

Is UV 7 dangerous?: It's officially 'high', and for fair skin it means burning inside 20 minutes without protection. It's not a stay-indoors level, it's a fully-protect-and-carry-on level: sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, shade where sensible.
What does UV 7 feel like?: Like nothing at all, that's the problem. UV carries no sensation and no relationship to heat. UV 7 on a windy 20°C day and UV 7 on a 35°C scorcher deliver identical doses to your skin.

Keep reading

What does UV 7 mean for your skin?

A photo estimates your skin type; the live UV where you stand turns it into your personal burn time.

Check my burn time