We are pausing our live coverage for now - thank you for staying with us. Our writers today were Laura Gozzi and Beth Timmins, the editor was Marie Jackson.

President Biden has called the storms in Mississippi "heartbreaking" and promised to provide emergency support.

"We will do everything we can to help," he said in a statement. "We will be there as long as it takes."

They're unpredictable and can cause carnage, but why do tornadoes form? Ben Rich from BBC Weather explains:

Local Mississippi TV station WAPT spoke to Rolling Fork resident Shanta Howard who said it was a fight for life.

“We had to help dead bodies out of the house, so that is very disturbing,” she told WAPT.

Another resident Andy Anderson said he and his wife ran to take shelter.

“Ran down to the tub in the bathroom with my wife (and) threw pillows on top of us,” he said.

Meanwhile, local news station WTVA 9 News is reporting that the Mayor of Amory, Corey Glenn has announced a temporary curfew for residents and told them to boil their water after the city water department was struck by the twister.

The curfew will be in effect from 8pm until 6am.

If you're just joining us, here's a reminder of what's been happening since a tornado ripped through the US state of Mississippi on Friday night:

• At least 23 people have died from the tornado. Others are receiving treatment in hospital, while several are still missing
• The mayor of rural town Rolling Fork, Eldridge Walker, said lots of families were "affected and hurting" and all he could see was "devastation"
• Eyewitnesses have described trees breaking "like toothpicks" and pets walking around, with nobody in sight
• Residents have told how the tornado ripped trees from the ground and sent them crashing into their homes. More people are still thought to be trapped under rubble
• The twister caused devastation in several rural towns, where trees and power lines were torn down
• Hail the size of golf balls and heavy rainfall were seen in several areas of the state
• Mississippi state governor Tate Reeves is on his way to Sharkey County to visit affected residents
• Other southern states are now also braced for powerful storms

The National Weather Service in Jackson , externalhas said last night's tornado was among the deadliest in Mississippi history.

Only five other tornadoes in state history reported more casualties. A sixth tornado in 2011 also reported 23 deaths.

Drone footage captures the devastation after a tornado hits Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

Image source, Reuters

The latest tornado outbreak in Mississippi is only the latest in an active winter of extreme weather in the southern US.

There was a preliminary total of 168 tornadoes across the US in January - the second highest number on record. Alabama led all states with 49 tornadoes between January and February.

Yet tornado season in the southern US states hasn't even officially peaked. April, May and June tend to be the most active months for severe weather and tornadoes in the region.

Mississippi state governor Tate Reeves has shared an update on Twitter, saying: "Just completed command briefing with our disaster response team. Devastating damage - as everyone knows. This is a tragedy."

Mr Reeves added that he is on the way to Sharkey County - the worst-affected area of the state - to be with the residents who were first hit by the fury of the tornado.

"We are blessed with brave, capable responders and loving neighbors. Please continue to pray," Mr Reeves wrote.

It is morning in Amory, Mississippi, and photos are starting to emerge showing the extent of the devastation from last night's tornado.

Much of a roadside fuel station has been reduced to twisted strips of rubble piled up on the ground, according to photographs posted on Twitter by local news broadcaster WTVA 9 News.

The images also show telephone poles that have either been downed or are leaning precariously across roads along with wiring.

A man who lives in Winona, Mississippi, has described the moment the tornado ripped down trees around his house.

Footage from the town shows properties hit by trees, and debris scattered in streets and gardens.

Here's the latest from our colleagues at BBC Weather:

There is the risk of further severe thunderstorms on Sunday from the far east of Texas and central Louisiana into southern and central Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.

These will bring the risk of large hail, damaging wind gusts and a couple of tornadoes are possible.

The centre of the area of low pressure that bought devastation to parts of Mississippi on Friday night is moving north-eastwards towards Canada.

However, a trailing weather front remains over south and south-eastern parts of the US - with a new pulse of downpours expected into Sunday.

Image source, James Parker

We’re now starting to hear from people who witnessed the tornado.

James Parker said the devastation caused by the tornado in his hometown of Amory in Mississippi is “heartbreaking".

“There are trees bigger round than two people hugging, and they’re just broken as if they’re toothpicks," he said.

His neighbours' porch is now covered with what used to be the street's shade tree.

James said that the emergency response was "extremely fast", considering the extent of the damage and the number of fallen trees - but that the extent of the destruction is now clear.

“There are people’s pets walking around and nobody in sight looking for them - the only people out are the emergency services," he explained.

“Our little part of the street is lucky to have missed so much of the damage, but I can only imagine what the rest of our town is like.”

James and his mum are now safe after weathering out the storm at home.

The mayor of Rolling Fork, Eldridge Walker, told CNN about the state of his town this morning over images of scattered debris and gutted homes.

"Devastation. As I look from left to right, it's all I see. Lots of families affected and hurting... This community is in a situation we never expected."

"My city is gone," he said. "But we're resilient and we're going to come back."

Asked about the search effort, Mr Walker said "several victims" were trapped in their homes and taken to hospital and rescue efforts were still under way.

Mr Walker also said he and his family "watched the news and by the time we heard the warning and took cover in our bathroom the storm had hit".

He also asked people to "stay still and wait for first responders". "Houses that are torn up can be replaced but we can't replace a life," he said.

Reports of a tornado and strong thunderstorms stretched from the western edge of Mississippi, north through the centre of the state and into Alabama.

Footage of the storms has been posted on social media, and residents waking up to the devastation are seeing the scale of the destruction in their towns.

At around 07:00 CDT (12:00 GMT) on Friday, Mississippi residents were warned the state would experience severe weather beginning that afternoon and continuing through the night.

Tornadoes, hail, and damaging winds were said to be likely, with the most likely time period for strong tornadoes set to be late afternoon into evening.

People were also warned that a "line of strong to severe thunderstorms will be capable of producing very intense rain rates" resulting in instances of flash flooding.

Overnight, the tornado hit several areas in western Mississippi. Roofs were lifted off houses and trees and power lines were torn down.

The tornado also brought hail the size of golf balls.

By morning, local residents said some towns - like the county seat of Sharkey County, Rolling Fork - were "gone".

Almost two dozen people are known to have died and several more might be trapped under the rubble.

As Mississippi woke up to the devastation on Saturday morning, the National Weather Service said the clean up was already under way - but warned people to stay far away from damaged power lines and not enter damaged buildings or walk through floodwaters.

Have you been affected by the tornado and storms in Mississippi? If it is safe to do so, please share your experiences with us.

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Residents of Rolling Fork, a small town town in western Mississippi, said a tornado blew the windows out of the back of their homes. The damage in the area is reported to be particularly bad.

Local resident Brandy Showah told CNN: "I've never seen anything like this... This was a very great small town, and now it's gone."

Cornel Knight told the Associated Press that he, his wife and their three-year-old daughter were at a relative's home in Rolling Fork and that it was "eerily quiet" just before the tornado struck. He said the sky was dark but "you could see the direction from every transformer that blew".

He said the tornado struck another relative's house, where a wall collapsed and trapped several people inside.

Other people were trapped in piles of rubble, while some law enforcement units are unaccounted for in the county of Sharkey.

Welcome to our coverage of the latest events in Mississippi.

The southern US state was hit by severe weather on Friday night. A tornado swept through the west of the state causing widespread devastation across several rural communities. At least 23 people are known to have died and dozens are injured. Several are still missing.

It is now 07.50am in Mississippi and the extent of the destruction will become known as the day progresses.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates.