Dozens of communities are now under mandatory evacuation orders in Southern California with evacuation warnings affecting dozens more as crews continued battling a pair of deadly wildfires in the region Friday.

Another round of Santa Ana winds has moved into Southern California and will spread south through San Diego County late Thursday. The additional dry air also is expected to worsen the region’s already very low humidity levels,

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

Strong winds and fire weather warnings are in the forecast for parts of Los Angeles, including Malibu, the Santa Monica Mountains and more locations.

Although the strongest wind gusts have passed through the Southern California region, another "traditional Santa Ana wind event" will move in Thursday night.

The Santa Ana winds will stick around into Friday morning as most of the region remains under a critical fire risk.The National Weather Service extended a red flag warning for much of the region until 6 p.