Thousands of people were being evacuated from houses, nursing homes and a hospital as brush fires fanned by fierce desert winds swept across Southern California today.

Thousands of homes were still at risk from wildfires raging through tinder-dry Californian countryside today.

A wildfire fanned by Santa Ana winds destroyed four seaside mansions and damaged at least two others early today as it spread over more than 20 acres in California’s Malibu celebrity enclave.