Out-of-control wildfires are ripping across parts of Los Angeles, leading to at least five deaths, burning down hundreds of buildings, and prompting more than 130,000 people to flee their homes in America's second-largest city.

Despite the efforts of firefighters, the biggest blazes remain totally uncontained - with weather conditions and the underlying impact of climate change expected to continue fanning the flames for days to come.

What's the latest?

More than 137,000 people have been forced to leave their homes - many of them simply carrying whatever belongings they can.

Police say at least five people have died, and their bodies found near the Eaton Fire - but their cause of death is not yet known.

Like the even larger Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire remains totally uncontained. Meanwhile, the new Sunset Fire is menacing the well-known Hollywood Hills area.

More than 1,000 structures are known to have been destroyed - including houses, schools and businesses on the iconic Sunset Boulevard. A fire ecologist has told the BBC that "entire neighbourhoods... have been wiped out".

Among the celebrities who have lost their homes are Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, who attended the Golden Globes just days ago, and Paris Hilton.

There is a glimmer of hope for firefighters, as the fire weather outlook for southern California has been downgraded from "extremely critical" to "critical".

But BBC weather forecaster Sarah Keith-Lucas says there is no rain forecast in the area for at least the next week, meaning conditions remain ripe for fire.

Mass disruption has been reported due to traffic buildup. A number of schools and the the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have been forced to close.

A political row about the city's preparedness has erupted after it emerged that some firefighters' hoses have run dry - an issue seized upon by US President-elect Donald Trump.

• Follow live updates
• 'Where do I go?' Chaos as people flee flames
• In pictures: Dramatic scenes from west LA
• The celebrities who have lost their homes

Where are the fires?

There are at least five fires raging in the wider area, according to California fire officials early on Thursday:

• Palisades: The first fire to erupt on Tuesday and the biggest fire in the region, which could become the most destructive fire in state history. It has scorched a sizable part of land, covering more than 17,200 acres, including the upscale Pacific Palisades neighbourhood
• Eaton: It has struck the northern part of Los Angeles, blazing through cities such as Altadena. It's the second biggest fire in the area, burning around 10,600 acres
• Hurst: Located just north of San Fernando, it began burning on Tuesday night and has grown to 855 acres, though firefighters have had some successlimited in containing it
• Lidia: It broke out on Wednesday afternoon in the mountainous Acton area north of Los Angeles and grew to cover almost 350 acres. Authorities say it has been 40% contained
• Sunset: It broke out Wednesday evening in Hollywood Hills, growing to about 20 acres in less than an hour. It now covers around 43 acres

The earlier Woodley and Olivas fires have now been contained, according to local fire authorities.

• In maps: Thousands of acres on fire
• Watch: Fires reach Hollywood, with fears for iconic sign

How did the LA fires start?

Officials have pointed to high winds and drought in the area, which has made vegetation very dry and easy to burn.

The likely impact of climate change has also been cited been blamed - although the exact circumstances remain unclear.

Some 95% of wildfires in the area are started by humans, according to David Acuna, a battalion chief at the Californian Fire Service, although officials are yet to state how they think the current fires started.

An important factor that has been cited in the spread of the blazes is the Santa Ana winds, which blow from inland towards the coast. With speeds of more than 60mph (97 km/h), these are believed to have fanned the flames.

• What are the Santa Ana winds?

What role has climate change played?

Although strong winds and lack of rain are driving the blazes, experts say climate change is altering the background conditions and increasing the likelihood of such fires.

US government research is unequivocal in linking climate change to larger and more severe wildfires in the western United States.

"Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says.

And following a very warm summer and lack of rain in recent months, California is particularly vulnerable.

Fire season in southern California is generally thought to stretch from May to October - but the state's governor, Gavin Newsom, has pointed out earlier that blazes had become a perennial issue. "There's no fire season," he said. "It's fire year."

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Acuna said the Palisades Fire represented only the third occasion in the past 30 years that a major fire had broken out in January.

• How climate change is stoking the fires
• A simple guide to climate change

Copenhagen's gloomy January weather matches the mood among Denmark's politicians and business leaders.

"We take this situation very, very seriously," said Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen of Donald Trump's threats to acquire Greenland – and punish Denmark with high tariffs if it stands in the way.

But, he added, the government had "no ambition whatsoever to escalate some war of words."

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen downplayed Trump's own suggestion that the US might use military force to seize Greenland. "I don't have the fantasy to imagine that it'll ever get to that," she told Danish TV.

And Lars Sandahl Sorensen, CEO of Danish Industry, also said there was "every reason to stay calm... no-one has any interest in a trade war."

But behind the scenes, hastily organised high-level meetings have been taking place in Copenhagen all week, a reflection of the shock caused by Trump's remarks.

Greenland PM Mute Egede flew in to meet both the prime minister and King Frederik X on Wednesday.

And on Thursday night, party leaders from across the political spectrum gathered for an extraordinary meeting on the crisis with Mette Frederiksen in Denmark's parliament.

Faced with what many in Denmark are calling Trump's "provocation," Frederiksen has broadly attempted to strike a conciliatory tone, repeatedly referring to the US as "Denmark's closest partner".

It was "only natural" that the US was preoccupied by the Arctic and Greenland, she added.

Yet she also said that any decision on Greenland's future should be up to its people alone: "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders... and it's the Greenlanders themselves who have to define their future."

Her cautious approach is twofold.

On the one hand, Frederiksen is keen to avoid escalating the situation. She's been burned before, in 2019, when Trump cancelled a trip to Denmark after she said his proposal to buy Greenland was "absurd".

"Back then he only had one more year in office, then things went back to normal," veteran political journalist Erik Holstein told the BBC . "But maybe this is the new normal."

But Frederiksen's comments also speak to the Danish resolve not to meddle in the internal affairs of Greenland – an autonomous territory with its own parliament and whose population is increasingly leaning towards independence.

"She should've been much clearer in rejecting the idea," said opposition MP Rasmus Jarlov.

"This level of disrespect from the coming US president towards very, very loyal allies and friends is record-setting," he told the BBC, although he admitted Trump's forcefulness had "surprised everybody."

The conservative MP believed Frederiksen's insistence that "only Greenland... can decide and define Greenland's future" placed too much pressure on the island's inhabitants. "It would've been prudent and clever to stand behind Greenland and just clearly state that Denmark doesn't want [a US takeover]."

The Greenland question is a delicate one for Denmark, whose prime minister officially apologised only recently for spearheading a 1950s social experiment which saw Inuit children removed from their families to be re-educated as "model Danes".

Last week, Greenland's leader said the territory should free itself from "the shackles of colonialism."

By doing so he tapped into growing nationalist sentiment, fuelled by interest among Greenland's younger generations in the indigenous culture and history of the Inuit.

Most commentators now expect a successful independence referendum in the near future. While for many it would be seen as a victory, it could also usher in a new set of problems, as 60% of Greenland's economy is dependent on Denmark.

An independent Greenland "would need to make choices," said Karsten Honge. The Social Democrat MP now fears his preferred option of a new Commonwealth-style pact "based on equality and democracy" is unlikely to come about.

Sitting in his parliamentary office decorated with poems and drawings depicting scenes of Inuit life, Honge said Greenland would need to decide "how much it values independence". It could sever ties with Denmark and turn to the US, Honge said, "but if you treasure independence then that doesn't make sense."

Opposition MP Jarlov argues that while there is no point in forcing Greenland to be part of Denmark, "it is very close to being an independent country already".

Its capital Nuuk is self-governed, but relies on Copenhagen for management of currency, foreign relations and defence - as well as substantial subsidies.

"Greenland today has more independence than Denmark has from the EU," Jarlov added. "So I hope they think things through."

As Mette Frederiksen has the awkward task of responding firmly while not offending Greenland or the US, the staunchest rebuttal to Trump's comments so far has come from outside Denmark.

The principle of the inviolability of borders "applies to every country... no matter whether it's a very small one or a very powerful one," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the EU would not let other nations "attack its sovereign borders".

Their comments gave away the deep concern within the EU about how to handle the upcoming Trump presidency. "This is not just very serious for Greenland and Denmark – it is serious to the whole world and to Europe as a whole," MP Karsten Honge said.

"Imagine a world – which we may be facing in just a few weeks – where international agreements don't exist. That would shake everything up, and Denmark would just be a small part of it."

The Danish trade sector has similarly been engulfed by deep nervousness after Trump said he would "tariff Denmark at a very high level" if it refused to give up Greenland to the US.

A 2024 Danish Industry study showed that Denmark's GDP would fall by three points if the US imposed 10% tariffs on imports from the EU to the US as part of a global trade war.

Singling out Danish products from the influx of EU goods would be near-impossible for the US, and would almost certainly result in retaliatory measures from the EU. But trade industry professionals are taking few chances, and in Denmark as elsewhere on the continent huge amounts of resources are being spent internally to plan for potential outcomes of Donald Trump's second term in the White House.

As his inauguration approaches, Danes are preparing as they can to weather the storm. There is guarded hope that the president-elect could soon shift his focus to grievances towards other EU partners, and that the Greenland question could be temporarily shelved.

But the disquiet brought on by Trump's refusal to rule out military intervention to seize Greenland remains.

Karsten Honge said Denmark would have suffer whatever decision the US takes.

"They just need to send a small battleship to travel down the Greenland coast and send a polite letter to Denmark," he said, only partly in jest.

"The last sentence would be: well, Denmark, what you gonna do about it?

"That's the new reality with regards to Trump."

Commuters are being warned of icy roads and travel disruption, as temperatures plummeted again overnight across the UK.

Fresh weather warnings have been issued, with snow, ice and fog forecast across southern England, Wales, Northern Ireland and northern Scotland on Thursday.

It will be mainly dry elsewhere with winter sunshine, but temperatures could fall again to as low as -16C on Thursday night.

The cold snap has already brought heavy snowfall to some areas, and dozens of flood alerts and warnings are in place due to either heavy rain or melting snow.

On Wednesday the lowest temperature recorded was -8.4C (16F) in Shap, Cumbria, according to the Met Office.

It comes as an amber cold health alert remains in place for all of England until Sunday, meaning the forecast weather is expected to have significant impacts across health - including a rise in deaths.

The Met Office says travel disruption to road and rail services is likely on Thursday in areas covered by warnings, as well potential for accidents in icy places.

There are five warnings in place:

• A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place for northern Scotland until midnight on Thursday
• A yellow warning for ice has been issued until 10:30 across southern England and south-east Wales
• Two yellow warnings for snow and ice are in force until 11:00 GMT - one across western Wales and north-west England, and south-west England; and another for Northern Ireland
• A yellow warning for fog until 09:00 in Northern Ireland

On Wednesday snow caused some roads to close and motorists to be stationary for "long periods of time" in Devon and Cornwall, according to authorities there.

Gritters working into Thursday morning have been fitted with ploughs to clear routes in the area.

Car insurer RAC said it has seen the highest levels of demand for rescues in a three-day period since December 2022.

"Cold conditions will last until at least the weekend, so we urge drivers to remain vigilant of the risks posed by ice and, in some locations, snow," said RAC breakdown spokeswoman Alice Simpson.

National Rail have also advised passengers to check before they travel, as ice and snow can mean speed restrictions and line closures.

On Wednesday evening, poor weather was affecting Northern and Great Western Railway.

Buses are also replacing trains between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog until Monday.

• Get the forecast in your area on BBC Weather

The wintry conditions have caused significant disruption across the UK since snow swept many parts of the country at the weekend.

Hundreds of schools were closed in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, including schools in Yorkshire, Merseyside, the Midlands and Aberdeenshire.

The country has also been hit by widespread flooding in recent days. Currently there are 68 flood warnings - meaning flooding is expected - in England and three in Wales.

The weather is expected to be less cold over the weekend.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves is travelling to China in a bid to boost trade and economic ties, as she faces pressure over government borrowing costs hitting their highest level in years.

The three day-visit has been criticised by some Conservatives who claim she should have cancelled the trip to prioritise dealing with economic issues at home.

Government borrowing costs have hit their highest levels for several years, meaning that uses up more tax revenue, leaving less money to spend on other things.

Economists have warned this could mean spending cuts affecting public services or tax rises that could hit people's pay or businesses' ability to grow.

On Thursday, the pound fell to its lowest level in more than a year - but the Treasury said markets continued to "function in an orderly way".

Travelling to China with the chancellor are senior financial figures, including the governor of the Bank of England and the chair of HSBC.

There she will meet China's Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing before flying to Shanghai for discussion with UK firms operating in China.

The government is looking to revive an annual economic dialogue with China that has not been held since the pandemic.

Ties have been strained in recent years by growing concerns about the actions of China's Communist leaders, allegations of Chinese hacking and spying and its jailing of pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong.

The Conservatives have criticised the chancellor for proceeding with the planned trip rather than staying in the UK to address the cost of government borrowing and slide in the value of the pound.

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride accused Reeves of being "missing in action" and said she should have stayed in the UK.

But Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, standing in for Reeves in the Commons on Thursday, said the trip was "important" for UK trade and there was "no need for an emergency intervention".

Former chancellor Philip Hammond also told the World at One programme on Thursday that he "wouldn't personally recommend the chancellor cancels her trip to China. This can wait until she gets back next week".

Governments generally spend more than they raise in tax so they borrow money to fill the gap, usually by selling bonds to investors.

Interest rates - known as the yield - on government bonds have been going up since around August, a rise that has also affected government bonds in the US and other countries.

The yield on a 10-year bond has surged to its highest level since 2008, while the yield on a 30-year bond is at its highest since 1998, meaning it costs the government more to borrow over the long term.

Reeves has previously committed only to make significant tax and spend announcements once a year at the autumn Budget.

But if higher borrowing costs persist, there is the possibility of cuts to spending before that or at least lower spending increases than would otherwise happen.

Any further spending cuts could be announced in the chancellor's planned fiscal statement on 26 March , ahead of a spending review that has already asked government departments to find efficiency savings worth 5% of their budgets.

Police say two more lynx have been spotted in the same area where a pair of the wild cats were captured on Thursday.

They were seen near Kingussie in the Cairngorms National Park.

Police Scotland have warned members of the public not to approach the animals and said officers are working with specially-trained personnel to capture them.

The force said inquiries suggested that the sighting was connected with the release of the two lynx which were captured on Thursday.

A spokesperson said: "Members of the public are asked not to approach the animals and officers are working with specially trained personnel to capture them."

The latest lynx were spotted at about 07:10 on Friday.

The two animals captured earlier this week have been taken into the care of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS).

It has condemned the illegal release of the animals as "highly irresponsible".

Experts from the charity worked with police to humanely trap the cats overnight.

They are now being cared for in quarantine facilities at Highland Wildlife Park before they are transferred to Edinburgh Zoo.

UK officials are monitoring social media posts by Elon Musk and others as a possible security risk.

The monitoring is being carried out by a team in the Home Office's Homeland Security group, which is responsible for reducing national security risks and, according to a government website, "focuses on the highest harm risks to the homeland".

They are looking at the reach of posts and who is engaging with them.

The Home Office declined to comment.

But a source told the BBC said it was being done to make sure they were on top of whatever challenges were being posed by "non-state actors".

The monitoring of Musk's social media output, first revealed by the Daily Mirror, is understood to have begun after he made comments about Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips.

The US tech billionaire, who renamed Twitter X when he bought the company, called Phillips a "rape genocide apologist" and said she should be jailed.

The Labour minister, who ran a domestic abuse refuge before becoming an MP and has long campaigned to tackle violence against women, told the BBC threats to her had increased as a result of the post.

The BBC has confirmed that officials in the Home Office are monitoring the social media posts of Musk, who is an adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump, along with other accounts that also have large numbers of followers.

Over the past week, Musk has been attacking the UK government over rejecting a fresh inquiry into grooming gangs, with the PM insisting victims need "action" not more inquiries.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which lasted seven years and made 20 recommendations, reported in 2022 under the Conservative government but none of the recommendations have yet been implemented.

On Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper set out action she would be taking on three recommendations.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has criticised what he described "lies and misinformation" around historic child sex abuse investigations.

He has also robustly defended his record as Director of Public Prosecutions on his work to tackle child abuse and sexual exploitation, which included bringing the first prosecution of an "Asian grooming gang" in Rochdale and prosecuting the highest number of child sexual abuse cases on record.

Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe, who has been praised by Musk, has asked the Home Office for the cost of the reported probe to taxpayers by the counter-extremism unit.

He said: "I have asked the Home Office how many of Musk's posts have been investigated, for what reason, by how many officers and at what cost to the taxpayer.

"They will spy on Musk's online activity, but no inquiry into thousands of foreign rapists. Pathetic."

Residents were already on edge as more fires erupted across the Los Angeles region, traumatising millions of people who feel that after four days there's no end in sight.

Then on Thursday afternoon came another jolt in the form of a text alert.

This one was mistakenly sent to every cell phone in the county - home to about 10 million people - warning them the blaze was close and they should prepare to evacuate.

Rebecca Alvarez-Petit was on a video work call when her phone started blaring.

"An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued in your area," the text message said.

The sound echoed around her as each of her colleagues received the same startling message.

"It was like a massive panic that I was watching in real-time," she said.

She and colleagues started researching and trying to see whether they were in imminent danger.

Instant relief came in the form of a corrected alert telling them to disregard the warning but this soon gave way to newfound anger, she said.

"We're all on pins and needles and have been anxiously sitting by our phones, staring at the TV, having the radio going - trying to stay as informed as possible because there wasn't a good system in place," said Ms Alvarez-Petit, who lives in West Los Angeles.

"And then this. It's like - you have got to be kidding me."

The death toll from the wildfires has continued to climb with at least 10 people known to have died and that toll may grow.

For many, the anxiety about saving lives and property has turned into a sense of frustration over the handling of the fires.

A mayor's frustration

Officials have acknowledged some of the complaints, from hydrants running dry that hindered firefighting efforts to questions about preparedness and fire mitigation investment.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass returned to the city from a pre-planned trip to Africa to find it on fire. She faced intense questions on Thursday about the region's preparedness, her leadership in this crisis and the water issues that failed firefighters.

"Was I frustrated by this? Of course," Mayor Bass said, answering a question about water issues and whether the area was prepared enough. She noted that is an "unprecedented event".

• In maps: Thousands of acres on fire in LA
• What's the latest on the Los Angeles wildfires and what caused them?
• Stuck in traffic as flames approached: Why LA is hard to evacuate

Like other officials, she stressed the fires were able to spread on Tuesday because of strong winds - the same winds that prevented aircraft from dropping water or fire retardant on the blazes. She said urban water systems and neighbourhood fire hydrants are not built to handle dousing thousands of acres of fire.

She noted there will be reviews of how the incident unfolded that will examine how officials and agencies handled it.

"When lives have been saved and homes have been saved, we will absolutely do an evaluation to look at what worked, what didn't work, and to correct or to hold accountable any body, department, individual," she said.

"My focus right now is on the lives and on the homes."

Water shortage questions

The evolving disaster has turned into a need to understand why this happened and how it escalated into the most destructive fire in the history of Los Angeles.

As one of the now five fires burning in Los Angeles County approached Larry Villescas' home on Tuesday, he grabbed the only tool he could - a garden hose.

He and his neighbour made quick work of the embers falling on their homes from the Eaton Fire and igniting grass.

Then the hose ran dry.

He watched his neighbours' home in Altadena ignite. Then there was a boom - a nearby home was ablaze and sounded as though it exploded. He had to leave.

As he drove away, he watched the fire take hold of his garage.

"If we had water pressure, we would have been able to fight it," Mr Villescas said, standing in front of the charred remains of his home.

He remembered seeing firefighters that night - as the community burned - sitting in their trucks, unable to help.

"I remember my rage. It was like 'do something,' but they can't - there's no water pressure," he said. "It's just infuriating. How could this happen?"

Some experts have said the water shortage is due to unprecedented demand not mismanagement.

"The problem is that the scope of the disaster is so vast that there are thousands of firefighters and hundred of fire engines drawing upon water," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the California Institute for Water Resources, told the BBC.

"Ultimately only so much water can flow through pipes at a time."

Other neighbours shared their sense the state was not prepared despite routinely seeing destructive fires.

Hipolito Cisneros, who was surveying the remains of his now-destroyed home, said the public utilities in the area have needed upgrades for years.

"We've lived here for 26 years and we've never seen it tested," he says about the fire hydrant at the end of his block that failed to draw water when it was needed most.

Down the street, Fernando Gonzalez helped his brother sift through the rubble of his home of 15 years.

He noted that his own home in Santa Clarita - about 45 minutes away in Los Angeles County - was also being threatened by a different set of wildfires.

"We've just been on high alert," he said. "It's all around us, you know."