A wildfire tearing through mountains near Los Angeles has forced thousands of evacuations. The Canyon Fire ignited at around 1.30pm local time (9.30pm BST) and ravaged over 2.3 square miles (six square kilometers) in five hours.

Rising temperatures pose new challenges for firefighters who have made incremental progress against a massive wildfire in central California that has injured four people as it has become the biggest blaze in the state so far this year.

Amid a worsening climate crisis, the fires in California have reached catastrophic levels as the Gifford Fire rips through the central coast, tearing across dry forests and mountain terrain with alarming speed and intensity.