The winds are common in California in the colder months, but they can sometimes help spread dangerous wildfires.

The ferocious wildfires turning the Los Angeles area into a raging inferno are being fueled by "hurricane force" Santa Ana winds that have already prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and are rapidly destroying homes.

Santa Ana winds in Southern California are often-fierce winds that topple power lines and trees and can turn a spark into a raging wildfire.