Sunburn

A sunburn is a radiation burn to the skin produced by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) light, commonly from the sun's rays. A similar burn can be produced by overexposure to other sources of UV, such as tanning lamps and welding arcs. Exposure of the skin to lesser amounts of UV will often produce a suntan.

Windburn

On cold days, people often refer to their sunburn as a windburn. Windburn is actually a distinct condition whereby the top layer of oil is removed from the skin, causing excessive dryness that leads to redness and a burning feeling. However, people commonly believe that any burn on a cold day is windburn. In fact, since sunburn is a result of UV light rather than heat, hot temperatures are not necessary. This mistake is frequently made while skiing, where sunburn can occur in very cold temperatures since the UV light is reflecting off the snow and higher altitudes provide less atmosphere to block UV.

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