Wildfire smoke from Canada has prompted air quality alerts across several states in the US. Air quality alerts were issued in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana and Illinois. Conditions were especially dire in Minneapolis and Minnesota.

The Air Quality Index is expected to reach the red or unhealthy category in Minnesota in the coming days.

This is not the first time that Canadian wildfires have prompted air quality alerts in the US and further afield. In 2023, a record early wildfire season sent smoke across the Atlantic into northern Europe.

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre yesterday reported “out-of-control” blazes in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, as well as in Yukon and the Northwest Territories.