Wildfires burning more than 4,000 miles away in Canada could be behind smoky skies and a burning smell reported across large parts of Doncaster overnight.

Many people reported being woken by a strong smell of burning and smoke in the early hours of this morning, with foggy and misty skies adding to the unusual sights and smells in the early hours.

From Armthorpe to Kirk Sandall, Woodlands to Cantley, numerous people reported the “toxic” and “burning smell.”

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service reported no major incidents in the area overnight – so people have been looking further afield for the answer.

Smoke from wildfires across Canada could be behind the smoky smell reported across large parts of Doncaster last night.

placeholder image — Smoke from wildfires across Canada could be behind the smoky smell reported across large parts of Doncaster last night.

And it could be that smoke from wildfires burning more than 4,000 miles (6,400km) away in central Canada has made it across the Atlantic to sit in the skies over the UK.

The presence of wildfire smoke from North America over the UK, whilst not common, does occasionally happen during the summer months.

Large plumes of smoke that rise from intense fires, that can burn for weeks on end, sometimes reach the upper atmosphere to be picked up by the jet stream - a zone of strong winds, close to the level at which planes fly.

These winds then carry the smoke particles across the Atlantic.

Over recent weeks numerous fires have raged across many Canadian provinces, especially Manitoba and Saskatchewan forcing mass evacuations and triggering health alerts across Canada and the United States.

Here in the UK, the smoke plume is at too high an altitude to affect our air quality.