The smoke from Canadian wildfires that has enveloped parts of the US and Canada in a thick haze is expected to pour into Norway on Thursday, officials there said.

Scientists with the Norwegian Climate and Environmental Research Institute (NILU) used a forecast model to predict how the smoke will travel through the atmosphere.

The smoke has moved over Greenland and Iceland since June 1 and observations in southern Norway have recorded increasing concentrations of aerosolised particles, the independent research institution said.

“We may be able to see some haze or smell smoke,” Nikolaos Evangeliou, a senior NILU researcher, said. “However, we do not believe that the number of particles in the air here in Norway will be large enough to be harmful to our health.”

The US east coast has experienced hazardous levels of pollution from the wildfires burning in Canada.

The smoke has affected millions of people, held up flights at major airports, postponed baseball games and prompted people to fish out pandemic-era face masks.

Canada has asked for help fighting more than 400 blazes nationwide.

US National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Ramsey said the weather system driving the smoke out “will probably be hanging around at least for the next few days”.