Summer's almost here and that means a lot more time spent outside.

Ultraviolet (UV) rays make up only a small portion of the sun's rays, but they can be harmful for your skin.

Dermatologist Dr. Patrick Shannon says using sunscreen daily is the easiest way to take care of your skin in this weather, and prevent damage from UV exposure over time.

"Even on a cloudy day, about 80 percent of the UV rays penetrate through to our skin, so it's kind of a deceptive type of thing," Dr. Shannon tells 21 News. "So we think about using sunscreen consistently maybe on sunny days, but we gotta use it consistently even on cloudy days to get the most benefit."

Dr. Shannon says outside of genetics, it's daily damage from the sun's rays that contributes most to an increased risk of developing skin cancer. He recommends performing a self-examination once a month, to look out for changes to your skin.

"We're thinking about three things particularly. So things that don't heal, things that are black, things that grow quickly," Dr. Shannon adds.