A meteorological trough is suspected to be the conduit through which the haze has managed to travel so far.

Authorities say the smoke is especially visible in central Chile, where mist is covering the sky that under normal circumstances would be cloudless, and could stay around for up to a day.

"In the coming days probably it will head toward Argentina," meteorologist Edita Amador, who works for Chile's Weather Directorate, said on Monday.

The presence of smoke should not cause any serious effects in the South American nation, since it rarely rains in that area.

The only consequence so far, Amador said, is a reduction in the ultraviolet radiation reaching the ground because of the "cap" that these kind of clouds form over the land.

Australian Associated Press