High winds that weather officials have called "life-threatening and destructive" are hitting Southern California Tuesday, sparking a major brush fire in Pacific Palisades and prompting thousands of power outages.

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

Forecasters are warning of a “life-threatening and destructive” windstorm expected to last several days and affect a massive swath of Southern California beginning early Tuesday. The offshore winds will be dry,