Smoke from huge forest fires in Canada set to reach western France

Smoke from the vast forest fires in Canada was set to reach France on Monday (June 26).

It has crossed the Atlantic and is expected to reach France, the UK, Ireland, and other countries in Western Europe, said Mark Parrington, scientific director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.

He posted on Twitter a visualisation of the smoke crossing the globe.

French storm observatory Keraunos said Brittany would be the first area of France affected.

It wrote: "The smoke from the fires in Quebec is reaching the centre of the Atlantic and is being picked up in part by a cold front approaching Brittany in a narrow band. The oceanic flow that is taking hold will be conducive to bringing this smoke back towards Europe over the next few days.”

Forecaster La Chaîne Météo said the smoke was expected to hit the French coast over the next few days, particularly the Gascony coast.

Read also: France will soon roll out a ‘wildfire risk map’. How will it work?

Smoke toxicity

The fires, which have been burning since May, have already destroyed more than 4.6 million hectares of forest, and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from affected areas.

As of a recent count from June 19, from the Canadian Ministry for Health, there were 423 fires still active in the country, with half of these still not under control.

More than 100 million people in the US have also been affected by air quality alerts over the past few weeks.

The smoke contains fine particles and several pollutants, Canadian authorities have warned, which make it dangerous to inhale.

Authorities in Canada and the US have recommended that people wear a face mask.

But it is unclear how high concentrations of harmful particles will be when the smoke reaches mainland France.

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