Officials expect high winds to kick up again early on Wednesday - as a 25th death is confirmed in the US disaster.

The death toll from the wildfires in Los Angeles, California, has risen to 24, with more fierce winds expected for the region where thousands of homes have already been destroyed

Easing winds delivered a brief but much-needed reprieve to firefighters Tuesday as they battled two massive blazes burning in the Los Angeles area, and the National Weather Service pushed back its unusually dire warning of critical fire weather until early the following day.

The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles are more than a week old, but parts of southern California are still burning. The death toll has reached 25, and is expected to climb as search teams comb through thousands of charred buildings,

Dozens of people are believed to have died in the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have burned down whole swaths of communities