Dreary days are making Manx people too complacent about the risk of skin cancer.

Public Health officers say despite the poor weather of recent weeks, we all need to protect ourselves from the sun's damaging rays.

These can penetrate even with thick cloud cover and so it's especially important to cover up children and babies.

Senior Health Promotion Officer Angela Howland (pictured) says countries such as Australia have many more cases of skin cancer, but their survival rates are much better because they are more aware of the need to look for changes in their bodies.

She says there are certain warning signs to look out for (audio file attached):