The Holiday Hair Index

Sun, salty sea, humid air and pollution can all take a real toll on your hair, leaving it feeling drier and frizzier, and more prone to snapping by the end of a trip. However, not every destination puts your hair under the same level of strain.

The Holiday Hair Index is a review of Europe’s holiday hotspots, scored on four environmental factors known to damage hair: UV, humidity, sea salinity (how salty the sea is), and air pollution. The index shows you the areas where your hair is most likely to experience strain and, more importantly, the simple steps you can take to help protect it.

Key takeaways

• Montenegro is the European destination where hair is most exposed to environmental strain, followed by Greece and Cyprus.
• Estonia is the gentlest destination for your hair, with a hair risk score less than a third of Montenegro’s.
• A staycation is no guarantee: Both the UK and Ireland have some of the highest humidity in Europe.
• Most holiday hair trouble is surface damage you can prevent; a freshwater rinse after every swim and a hat in strong sun do most of the work.
• Extra shedding a month or two after summer is a normal bodily response to the changing seasons; however, heavier shedding along with other changes like thinning patches is worth an appointment with your GP or pharmacist.

What's actually damaging your hair

Our index measures these four factors because they have some of the clearest, most direct effects on your hair shaft and scalp. Here’s what each one does, in plain terms, and steps you can take on each to avoid damage.

• Sun (UV): UV rays break down keratin, which is the protein your hair is built from, and weaken the cuticle (your hair’s protective outer layer). This leaves strands dry, brittle, and quick to snap.
• Saltwater: Salt draws moisture from your hair, leaving it feeling rough, dry, and prone to tangling and breakage.
• Humidity: Damp air can cause the hair shaft to swell and the cuticle to lift. This is what causes frizz, and over time, it weakens strands so they’re prone to breaking more easily.
• Air pollution: Tiny particles called PM2.5 (made up of things like soot, dust and smoke) settle on your scalp and hair. Over time, these particles may contribute to scalp irritation and, gradually, poor hair condition.

Other factors known to affect holiday hair

• Hard water: Water with lots of minerals leaves a chalky film on your hair, which makes it feel rough and easy to break.
• Chlorinated pool water: Pool chemicals strip away your hair’s natural oils, leaving it dry and brittle, and they build up over several swims.
• Scalp sunburn: A burnt scalp can become inflamed, and inflammation can push more hair into its resting phase, so you may shed a little more for a while.
• Travel stress: Big trips can put your body under stress, which is a known trigger for shedding, though not straight away - the extra shedding usually shows up 2–3 months later.
• Alcohol: Drinking is known to dehydrate you and can be a contributing factor to washing out the vitamins and minerals your hair needs to grow strong.
• Dietary shifts: Considerable nutritional and dietary shifts, especially with less protein and less iron, can leave your hair short of the building blocks it needs to grow.
• Shortening daylight hours: As the days get shorter after summer, your body naturally sheds a little more hair. This is normal, seasonal and temporary.

Ranked: the European holiday hotspots hardest on your hair

Here's the good news first: most of what your hair goes through on holiday is fixable or preventable, which is why this index measures hair damage (dryness, frizz and breakage you can see and feel), rather than long-term hair loss.

To understand a holiday’s potential effects on your hair, we scored each destination across four key factors and combined them into a single hair risk score. The higher the score, the greater the environmental strain a destination is likely to place on your hair. These rankings show that the hardest spots put nearly three times the strain on your hair than the easiest ones do.

These are the ten European destinations that scored highest for hair strain:

Why Montenegro, Greece and Cyprus rank worst

1. Montenegro: Montenegro’s number one position is driven mainly by very salty seawater (38.9 PSU) and by having the highest air pollution levels in the top ten ranking (16.5 PM2.5). Together, the salt dries out your strands while airborne particles settle on your scalp.

2. Greece: Greece has some of the saltiest seawater of the three top-ranking locations (39.1 PSU) as well as very strong sun (UV index 5.3). That pairing of salt and UV is especially drying, because both pull moisture from the hair shaft.

3. Cyprus: Cyprus also has some of the saltiest seawater in Europe (39.3 PSU) and has the strongest sun out of all the destinations we looked at (UV index 6.3). Even with lower humidity, that salt-and-sun combination still creates the same drying effect.

Meet Europe's worst offenders

Most humid air: Iceland (94.9%), Finland (91.4%), Sweden (90.7%), Norway (90.4%), UK (89.9%), Poland (89.9). These are the dampest climates in the index, all with average humidity levels near or above 90%. 

Highest air pollution (PM2.5): Montenegro (16.5), Romania (15.4), Poland (15.4). PM2.5 measures the tiny airborne particles, such as soot, dust, and smoke. Montenegro's 16.5 micrograms of pollution particles per cubic metre is more than three times the World Health Organisation's recommended annual limit of 5,  and leaves your scalp open to irritation and poor hair condition.

Strongest sun (UV): Cyprus (6.3), Malta (6.1), Greece (5.3). On the 0–11+ UV scale, a reading of 6–7 counts as "high", so Cyprus and Malta spend much of the year in that band, potentially leaving your hair dry and brittle. Their UV levels are also roughly three times the UK's average of around 2.

Saltiest seas: Cyprus (39.3 PSU), Greece (39.1), Montenegro (38.9),. These Mediterranean waters carry close to 39 grams of salt per litre, leading to dryness and breakage of the hair. Noticeably, they’re also saltier than the roughly 35 PSU of the UK and other locations on the Atlantic coast, and far above the barely-salty Baltic (under 10 PSU).

Gentlest overall: Estonia, Finland, Sweden. At the other end of the scale, these Baltic and Nordic destinations combine cool air, low pollution, and barely salty seas; Estonia tops the list with a hair-risk score around a third of Montenegro's. Weaker sun, cleaner air and a Baltic sea that's under 10 PSU mean far less of the salt, UV and pollution that wear hair down, so if your hair is prone to dryness or breakage, these may be the easiest conditions to travel in.

Thinking of staying local instead? The UK and Ireland are amongst the most humid countries in Europe

A staycation is no guarantee that your hair will have an easy summer: both the UK and Ireland are some of the most humid destinations in Europe. The UK’s humidity levels averaged nearly 90%, whilst Ireland sits at 89%. You've probably even noticed that a warm day in the UK can feel stickier and harder to shift than a much hotter day abroad - that's humidity doing the work. High humidity makes the air feel several degrees hotter than the thermometer says, and it’s just as unforgiving to your hair.

With both the UK and Ireland being islands with a maritime climate, the moist Atlantic air keeps humidity high throughout the summer, even if it’s not necessarily hot. Their seas are far less salty than the Mediterranean, so the issue here is the humidity, not salt, that’s affecting your hair.

The fix is the same as any other humid climate: keep your hair sealed and moisturised by using a leave-in conditioner followed by a light oil to lock in that hydration and reach for a smoothing cream or oil rather than trying to fight frizz with heat styling, which only adds more strain.

“Sun, salt and humidity can damage the hair shaft if you don’t take precautions. UV rays break down keratin and weaken the cuticle (your hair's protective outer layer) so strands become drier, more brittle and more likely to break by the end of a trip. Picture each strand like a rope: UV and salt fray the outer fibres, so your hair snaps more easily and looks thinner and duller by the end of a trip.

“You don’t have to fly anywhere to expose your hair to high humidity; the UK has some of the dampest air of the destinations we looked at. Humid air lifts your hair’s outer layer, which is what leaves it frizzy and more likely to break.”

Ian Budd, Lead Prescribing Pharmacist

How to protect your hair on holiday

Our Lead Prescribing Pharmacist, Ian Budd, has shared six practical steps to keep your hair in good condition while you’re away:

• Rinse before and after every swim: Wetting your hair with clean water first means it absorbs less salt or chlorine; rinsing afterwards washes away what’s left, before it dries out the strand.
• Put a barrier between your hair and the sun: A leave-in conditioner or oil with a UV filter, plus a hat around midday, reduces the protein damage that makes hair brittle.
• Protect your scalp, not just your hair: Apply SPF along your parting or wear a hat. A sunburnt scalp becomes inflamed, and that can trigger temporary shedding a few weeks later.
• Deep-condition after sun and salt: A weekly moisture or protein treatment helps restore what UV and salt strip out, and supports the cuticle so hair is less likely to break.
• Clarify to remove build-up: Use a gentle clarifying shampoo to lift pollution particles and any mineral film from hard water or pools, then follow with conditioner to re-hydrate your hair.
• Support your hair from the inside: It’s not just the products you're putting in your hair that can affect it, but your body as a whole.Drink plenty of water, go easy on alcohol, and keep eating enough protein and iron, as low levels of these can push hair follicles into their resting phase, which shows up as extra shedding some weeks later. This is more likely if your diet changes a lot on holiday.
• Give your body time to adjust after travel: Big trips can put your body under stress, which is a known trigger for extra shedding, though it usually shows up two to three months later rather than straight away. Speak to your pharmacist or GP if it lasts beyond six months.

If you’re noticing hair loss as well as hair damage

Whilst there is plenty you can do to prevent hair damage, many people also experience hair loss and shedding towards the end of summer and into autumn. Every autumn, searches for ‘hair loss’ climb sharply in the UK, and in 2025, Google searches hit a five-year high as people noticed extra hair in the shower or on the brush after their summer getaways.

This is telogen effluvium, where your hair can shed shortly after the summer holiday season; usually at the start of Autumn. With this timing, it’s easy for people to assume that their holiday caused it. However, the real trigger is the shorter daylight, not where you went, and it happens to people who never travelled at all.

“If you notice more shedding a couple of months after your holiday, it’s very rarely the destination itself. It’s usually ‘telogen effluvium’, a natural and temporary phase where more hairs rest and then shed at once. For most people, it settles within three to six months. If it carries on beyond that, or comes with a sore or itchy scalp, that’s your cue to speak to your pharmacist or GP."

Ian Budd, Lead Prescribing Pharmacist

When to worry about hair loss

Some everyday shedding is completely normal, and it’s typical to lose around 50 to 100 strands of hair a day. However, it’s worth speaking to your pharmacist or GP if you notice more worrying signs of hair loss:

• shedding that carries on beyond six months
• a sudden jump in how much hair is coming out
• patches or bald spots, rather than gradual all-over thinning
• an itchy, sore or flaky scalp alongside the shedding
• visible thinning at your parting or temples

These can point to something other than a temporary seasonal shed, but hair loss treatments can help. Our pharmacy team can talk you through the options and help you decide what’s right for you.

If hair loss is due to hereditary thinning, as seen in male and female pattern baldness, then we can offer treatments to help with this.

FAQs

Can a holiday really damage your hair?

Usually, it’s surface damage rather than hair loss. Sun, salt, humid air and pollution can weaken and dry out the hair shaft, so strands look duller and break more easily. That’s different from hair coming out at the root, and it’s largely preventable with a few simple steps.

Why does my hair seem to fall out more in autumn?

This is a common and usually harmless pattern called telogen effluvium. In late summer, more of your hair follicles enter their resting phase, then shed together around 12 weeks later, which lands in autumn. It happens whether or not you’ve been away, and for most people, it settles within three to six months.

Which holiday destination is the worst for your hair?

In our index of European destinations, Montenegro scored highest for hair strain, followed by Greece and Cyprus. These spots combine salty seas, warm, humid air and, in some cases, higher pollution, all of which can put stress on your hair and scalp.

Does saltwater damage your hair?

Salt draws moisture out of your hair, leaving it dry, rough and more likely to tangle and snap. The easiest fix is to rinse with fresh water straight after a swim, and to wet your hair with clean water first so it soaks up less salt.

Does the sun damage your hair?

Yes. UV rays break down keratin (the protein your hair is made of) and weaken its protective outer layer, so hair turns dry and brittle. A leave-in product with a UV filter and a hat in the middle of the day both help. The sun can also burn your scalp, so it’s worth applying SPF along your parting.

How can I repair my hair after a holiday?

Start with a gentle clarifying shampoo to lift out salt, chlorine and pollution build-up, then use a deep moisture or protein treatment to restore what the sun and salt have stripped away. If your hair still feels weak after a few weeks, a pharmacist can point you to targeted products.

Can a staycation still damage my hair?

It can. The UK is among the most humid destinations on the list, and damp air makes the hair shaft swell and the cuticle lift, which causes frizz and breakage. Sealing your hair with a smoothing cream or oil helps at home just as much as abroad.

How long does post-holiday hair shedding last?

For most people, this type of shedding settles on its own within three to six months. It’s worth speaking to your pharmacist or GP if it carries on beyond six months, comes with a sore, itchy or flaky scalp, or you notice patches rather than all-over thinning.

When should I see a pharmacist or GP about hair loss?

Speak to a professional if your shedding lasts longer than six months, seems heavier than a normal seasonal shed, comes with scalp irritation, or you have bald patches. They can point to something other than temporary seasonal shedding, and there are treatments that can help.

Methodology

This index ranks destinations by their exposure to conditions known to put stress on hair: UV, humidity, sea salinity and air pollution. Each of these has a well-established link to hair breakage and dryness, but the index itself is a measure of environmental exposure, not a clinical measure of hair damage or hair loss in travellers to these destinations. A high score means a destination has higher levels of these stressors, not that a confirmed rate of hair damage or shedding has been recorded there.

Saltwater levels were obtained from the National Centres for Environmental Information. We used NOAA World Ocean Atlas surface-level annual mean sea salinity levels, which measure how salty coastal waters are for each country, based on decades of ocean readings averaged into a single yearly figure.

• Downloaded 1°-resolution annual surface salinity data from NOAA's World Ocean Atlas 2023 (objectively analysed mean, 2015–2022 period).
• Pulled just the 0-metre (surface) salinity value for every ocean grid point in the file (41,088 points covering the whole global ocean).
• Used a standard global country boundary dataset (Natural Earth) to know the shape/location of every country's coastline.
• For each of the ocean points, we found the nearest country coastline, but only kept the match if it was within roughly 220km (2 degrees). This filtered out deep mid-ocean points that don't belong to any country's coastal waters.
• Grouped all matched points by country and calculated the average salinity and how many grid points contributed to that average.
• Marked any country with fewer than 3 grid points as "low confidence," since a 1- or 2-point average has no internal averaging to smooth out anomalies.

Humidity data was sourced from NASA's POWER database, which combines satellite and weather station data into a 30-year average (1991–2020) for every point on Earth. We measured RH2M levels (relative humidity at 2 metres above ground) at each country's geographic centre, giving a national average that smooths out any single unusually wet or dry year.

• Downloaded 20-year (2001-2020) relative humidity climatology data from NASA's POWER database.
• Pulled a global list of countries with their geographic centroid (central latitude/longitude).
• For each country, queried NASA POWER's Climatology API at that exact centroid coordinate to retrieve its 20-year average RH2M value.

Air pollution levels were obtained from IQAir, noting PM2.5 levels across each country. PM2.5 measures tiny bits of soot, dust, and smoke in the air that are 2.5 micrometres or smaller.

Daily peak UV measures were sourced from Open-Meteo's Historical Forecast API. We measured the highest UV reading reached each day at each country's geographic centre, then averaged all 365 days of 2025 into a single national figure, using the standard 0–11+ Global Solar UV Index scale.

• Pulled a global list of countries with their geographic centroid (central latitude/longitude), from a standard country reference dataset - 250 countries in total.
• For each country, queried Open-Meteo's Historical Forecast API at that exact centroid coordinate, requesting the daily maximum UV Index for every day of 2025.
• UV Index values are derived from operational numerical weather models (ECMWF, NOAA GFS, DWD ICON, UK Met Office, and others, selected automatically per location via a "best match" approach), reflecting real recorded atmospheric conditions.
• Averaged the ~365 daily values per country to produce one annual average UV Index figure.

We removed all countries from the index that did not have data for all four metrics. We then removed countries on the UK’s ‘do not travel’ list. We also focused on European countries due to it being the peak period in summer. This left us with 26 countries to rank for the index.

For every factor, destinations were ranked from highest to lowest, and these individual rankings were then combined into a single overall score. Destinations with the lowest combined score across all factors were classified as posing the least overall risk to hair health.