'Welcome to hell' billboard perfectly captures the mood amid New York air pollution

A billboard has captured the atmosphere in New York, after the city was engulfed in smoke blown down from wildfires raging in Canada.

The Canadian province of Quebec is currently experiencing hundreds of shocking wildfires and the pollution has led to the air quality in the city to be categorised as “very unhealthy”.

It’s given the city an ‘apocalyptic’ look, with social media full of people sharing images of the city covered in orange smog.

One image that has sparked a big reaction is a billboard advertising a new video game, which seems to capture the atmosphere in the city.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The advert is for the action role-playing game Diablo IV from Blizzard Entertainment and it features a demonic character on the front with the strapline “welcome to hell, New York”.

Somehow, that seems strangely accurate right now.

Meanwhile, NYC’s Mayor Eric Adams warned that the authorities “recommend all New Yorkers limit outdoor activity to the greatest extent possible” and people in North America have been advised to wear N95 masks outdoors.

There are more than 400 wildfires raging in Canada which have led to mass evacuations in Quebec province.

While some predictions said NYC might get some relief by Thursday evening, US National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Ramsey said "conditions are likely to remain unhealthy for at least the next few days", with no end in sight for the wildfires.

The city’s health commissioner Ashwin Vasan told reporters on Wednesday that the city’s air quality is at its worst since the 1960s, with conditions expected to last through several days.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.