The B.C. wildfires that have affected Edmonton’s air quality in recent days brought a new twist Wednesday morning: eerie orange skies.

See photos of the orange skies on Instagram

There were more than 500 wildfires burning in B.C. as of Tuesday. The province called for a state of emergency on Wednesday morning.

Environment Canada’s air quality index has Edmonton at 10+. The agency considers air quality in the 7-10 range to be “high risk,” which means people who suffer from heart and lung conditions could be severely affected by the current pollution.

CTV Edmonton meteorologist Cory Edel explains the smoke is not leaving any time soon.

“Our winds for example are becoming northwesterly as we go through the day and overnight. Essentially we need a big change in airflow from the east or southeast to push it back out of our region. There is so much smoke there; we are pretty much in the general direction of the general airflow so we’ll see it come over for a while. We’ll get breaks here and there, but we’ll likely see it come over us for a while.”