The Sun and the British

Aahhh the British. We had seen them turn from milk white to a deep tomato red colored heap of walking pain in about 2 hours in Egypt. They are the litmus test for the rest of us: You take a beefeater, put him or her in the sun and wait (in the shades) until he or she is slightly scorched. The recorded time equals the time the rest of us can safely dwell in the sun (with factor 30 that is).
Unfortunately that day we didn’t have any Brits handy so we chose to risk it all. We greased up in factor 30 twice, waited the mandatory 15 minutes before going in the sun and went for a swim. We got out of the water within an hour or so and put on our T-shirts. Drying oneself is not necessary here, as by the time you’ve reached your towel you’re dry. And yes, even that time, we burned.
I asked around and to give you an idea: when it’s really hot and sunny in the Netherlands you’d get an UV factor 6. Here in summer the UV factor is usually around 14. So that’s twice as powerful as in the Netherlands.