Red flag weather warning: A National Weather Service alert that warns the public — especially fire officials and firefighters — that strong winds are expected in specific areas of Southern California, and that there will be potentially dangerous fire weather conditions within the next 12 to 24 hours.

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

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag waning for a wide swath of Southern California as Santa Ana winds are expected to bring dangerous fire weather to the region later this week.