Wildfires began breaking out in Southern California Tuesday morning as a life-threatening, widespread windstorm that could be one of the most destructive to hit the region in over a decade roars to life and creates extremely dangerous fire weather conditions.

As a destructive and life-threatening windstorm continues battering Southern California Tuesday, fire officials warned the danger will continue overnight as peak winds are forecasted to arrive. Increased wind danger will begin at 10 p.

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