Dire warnings have been issued for the Los Angeles area, with a dangerous threat for the strongest wind event in more than a decade. Outages and extreme fire behaviours are major risks

Millions of people across Southern California are under a Red Flag warning as a dangerous windstorm fanned blazes in the Los Angeles area, including the Palisades Fire, which has triggered evacuations and burned hundreds of acres.

Southern California faces "extremely critical fire weather" with powerful winds that will result in "widespread" downed trees, power lines and electricity outages Tuesday and Wednesday, the National Weather Service warns.