'Rake news': Finnish people bemused after Donald Trump's claim they 'rake forests' to prevent fires

People in Finland have been left bemused after Donald Trump said the country's use of "raking" techniques helped prevent forest fires.

The US President has been critical of prevention measures in California in the wake of devastating wildfires there.

And while visiting the town of Paradise, which has been almost completely leveled by the flames, Mr Trump suggested America could follow Finland's example.

He said: "You gotta take care of the floors. You know the floors of the forest, it's very important. You look at other countries where they do it differently, and it's a whole different story.

"I was with the President of Finland and he said we have...what's different we're forest nation, he called it a forest nation. And they spent a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things and they don't have any problem."

In an interview following Mr Trump's comments, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said he did not recall mentioning raking to the US leader.

The comments prompted many Fins to post on social media mocking the idea that they raked forests, with many using the hashtags #haravointi, #FinnishRakingSeason and #RakingAmericaGreatAgain on Twitter.

Pyry Luminen posted a photo of herself pretending to hoover the forest floor, while Teemu Pasila tweeted that he was busy raking "some 228,000 square kilometres of forest".

Meira Pappi tweeted a picture of herself with a rake, saying: "Off to perform my civic duty!"

Meanwhile Lauri Markkanen asked: "Anybody need their floors raked?"