California wildfires: High Santa Ana winds bring danger of massive blazes in south of state

Residents are being warned to be very careful around sources of ignition to reduce risk of major fire

Winds notorious for fuelling some of South California's most dangerous wildfires are expected to kick-up for the first time this year - putting the region on alert,

The Santa Ana winds may reach gusts of up to 75mph up in the mountains, setting the conditions for possible new fires.

The fire warnings cover parts of Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Ventura, , San Luis Obispo, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can combine to fuel potentially deadly fires.

In Los Angeles and Ventura counties especially, gusts of 45 to 65 mph will dry out fuel made wet by recent rainfall, according to an advisory from the National Weather Service. Minimum humidities between 4 and 12 percent Monday and Tuesday and temperatures reaching 81 to 91 degrees will also create dry, hot air that could rapidly spread any wildfires.

Last year, the winds help drive the Thomas Fire which ended up burning more than 280,000 acres across the state and sat as the number one largest wildfire in the state's history until being surpassed by the Mendocino Complex fire in Northern California.

It is expected that such conditions will become more commonplace as the effects of climate change become more apparent - such larges fires are likely to become part of the norm rather than the exception.

As well as fire crews being place on alert, residents are being asked to be careful around ignition sources.

Much of Southern California has faced severe to extreme drought since the middle of October, according to the US Drought Monitor Report,

The Los Angeles office of the weather service says residents should be careful of the high winds bring down power lines onto roads - and possible power outages.

The strongest winds will occur on Tuesday, with speeds beginning to drop later in the week.