The weather is forecast to ease towards Christmas Day and then return to high temperatures around the 40s by next weekend.
The oppressive haze of smoke will come and go across the ACT as winds push fumes inland from fires in the east but also from the south across the Victorian border.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, temperatures are forecast to fall on Monday to the high 20s and low 30s, with Canberra and the north of the territory slightly warmer than the southern parts.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the forecast is for temperatures in the mid to high 30s. Winds were expected to pick up, with a possibility of a "fresh" Christmas Day.
But by Friday and Saturday, the heat is set to return, with temperatures possibly in the low 40s.
Forecaster Abrar Shabren said, "Heat-wave conditions are likely."
An "elevated fire danger" was likely, given the dry conditions.
As the heat returned, there was a possibility of light showers and even a storm but not with enough rain to transform the drought and fire situation.
So intense and high has the smoke been that pilots have been alerting passengers to its smell and taste in aircraft cabins and to reassure them that smoke in the cabin didn't mean anything was wrong with the aircraft.
