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Thank you for joining our live coverage, as heavy rainfall, storms and flodding have caused huge amounts of destruction and mass evacuations in California.

At least 14 people have died as a result of the fierce storm, which damaged key infrastructure.

Some areas at risk of dangerous mudslides and the National Weather Service has described it as "the most impressive storm since January 2005".

We're now pausing our live coverage, but you can stay up to date with key developments here.

Image source, Reuters

Power is being restored to thousands of homes, but rain continues to pummel the coast of California.

Many homes and businesses still have no power - more than 165,000 customers - but work is ongoing to connect people back to the network, according to data from PowerOutage.us, external. Earlier today the number of homes with no electricity stood at nearly 230,000.

Thousands of residents are under evacuation orders, including in a coterie of Hollywood stars - and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - who live in the affluent town of Montecito, where 23 were killed in mudslides five years ago.

Heavy rainfall is continuing, turning to thick snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains, while high winds have brought down trees, damaging homes and property and decimating infrastructure.

More life-threatening flash floods and possible mudslides are predicted, with no end to the dramatic weather currently in sight.

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Almost exactly five years ago, a mudslide hit the wealthy Californian enclave of Montecito, killing 23 people and wiping out more than 100 homes.

Officials now fear there could be further mudslides in the area, with the ground already saturated by heavy rainfall, and more expected later this week, according to forecasters.

In Santa Barbara County - where Montecito is situated - 10 inches of rain fell in just 24 hours - more than half a year's worth of rain typically seen in the area.

The 2018 mudslide devastated the small community of Montecito, whose residents now include the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and comedian Ellen DeGeneres.

On Monday, DeGeneres posted a video from the banks of a flooded creek near her, as a deluge once again beset the coastal town: "Mother Nature is not happy with us," she said

Evacuation orders , externalare in place for all of Montecito, Toro Canyon, Sycamore Canyon and Padaro Lane in Carpinteria. According to the order, residents should “leave now.”

Image source, Reuters

Firefighters rescued two people trapped in their car after it became submerged in a sinkhole which opened up on a Californian road in the Los Angeles suburb of Chatsworth on Monday evening.

Two vehicles - one on top of the other - had fallen into the sinkhole and although two people managed to get out, two others in the bottom vehicle were trapped.

After an initial rescue attempt using ladders proved unsuccessful, firefighters brought in an aerial ladder, positioned over the hole, to lower a crew member inside and secure a harness to both victims.

Both sustained only minor injuries and were taken to the hospital to be checked over. The road remains closed.

Torrential rain continues to batter parts of the US state causing widespread flooding - with warnings of further downpours on the way in the coming days.

BBC Weather's Helen Willetts has the details.

As heavy rainfall persists in California, the residents of the celebrity-filled town of Montecito, home to Oprah Winfrey and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have been ordered to evacuate their homes.

Many Hollywood stars, including actor Rob Lowe, and comedian Ellen DeGeneres also live there.

DeGeneres posted a video from the banks of a flooded creek on Monday saying: "This is crazy!.. This creek next to our house never flows, ever. It's probably about nine feet up and is going to go another two feet up."

The evacuation comes on the fifth anniversary of a mudslide in Montecito that killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes.

Thousands of homes and businesses have been left without electricity after power lines were toppled by the latest storm.

According to data from PowerOutage.us, external, more than 188,000 customers are currently out. But this has dropped slightly from the more than 220,000 homes and businesses without power earlier today.

The utility supplier with the most outages remains the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). More than 150,000 of its customers don't have any power right now.

In a statement PG&E said it had mobilised "its largest storm response effort in company history."

The US National Weather Service has said heavy or even excessive rainfall is expected across California in the coming hours.

Evacuations have been ordered across the state of California which is in the throes of a massive storm which has battered the coast, leaving homes and infrastructure badly damaged.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

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Nadine Yousif
BBC News

Image source, Reuters

California - one of the driest states in the US - is being inundated with torrential rain and flooding.

And given the decades-long drought in the region, which has led to restrictions on water usage in some areas, you might be wondering if this extreme weather could in some ways be a positive.

But the downpour is unlikely to have a big impact on the drought.

In fact, experts say it would take consecutive years of severe wet weather to reverse it in the long-term.

Read more about the relationship between the droughts and recent flooding here.

Aerial footage from California shows a house and vehicles almost completely submerged by flood water.

Around 90% of Californians - some 34 million people - are thought to be under flood watch, as storms batter the US state, causing life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.

The US has seen "excessive" rainfall and winds of more than 40 miles an hour in many places across California, according to the National Weather Service.

The "heavy to excessive" rainfall was expected across the state, especially in southern California as more than 33 million Californians were threatened by the severe storm.

Flash flooding closed key highways, swept cars away and toppled trees.

The high winds meant that 220,000 homes and businesses have been left without electricity according to data from Poweroutage.us.

On Wednesday, up to 18 cm of rain is expected in some parts of the state, and "several more feet of snow" in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Officials fear a repeat of the dangerous floods and mudslides five years ago which killed more than 20 people.

In Ventura County in the southeast, drivers were rescued after being caught in three feet of mud flow along State Highway 126, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Experts say the heightened intensity of the weather is down to climate change.

The rain and winds are expected to continue into Wednesday, with widespread floods, mudslide and landslide warnings.

Image source, Getty Images

As storms continue to batter parts of California, a new report from the American government shows just how much hurricanes, storms, droughts and wildfires cost the country in 2022.

Hurricane Ian was the most expensive, costing almost $123bn - but in total the country had 18 weather or climate disasters, each of them costing more than a billion dollars in repairs.

That makes 2022 the third most expensive year on record for damages, after 2017 and 2005.

Last year's $165bn figure could still go up once the winter storm which hit the centre and east of the country in December is factored in.

The report says that because of more extreme weather events taking place each year, the numbers are becoming “the new normal”.

Robin Levinson King, BBC News

Image source, Reuters

Atmospheric rivers may sound like a description in a travel blog, but these phenomena cause serious damage.

They occur when water evaporates into the air and is carried along by the wind, forming long currents that flow in the sky like rivers flow on land.

They can cause severe rains and mountain snow.

Atmospheric rivers are partly to blame for the torrential rains in California.

One of the most well-known atmospheric rivers is the Pineapple Express, a ribbon of water vapour that begins in Hawaii, where warm conditions help evaporate ocean waters into the atmosphere.

Once in the air, winds swiftly carry along the vapour, which, if lifted by a front or passing over mountains, condenses and falls as rain or snow.

It regularly brings rains to California and other parts of the western United States, especially during winter's cooler months.

Read more about this weather phenomenon here.

Image source, Reuters

People in different regions across the Californian state have been instructed to evacuate due to an increased risk to people's lives.

Montecito, a town in Santa Barbara county, is one of 17 Californian regions where authorities are concerned about the increased risk of landslides.

Evacuation orders have so far been issued in Santa Cruz county, Santa Barbara county, the Orcutt area, La Conchita in Ventura county and the Montecito region (pictured above).

Image source, Getty Images

More than 225,000 homes and businesses are without power in California according to data from PowerOutage.us, external.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service say a fresh storm will batter the state with as much as seven inches (18 centimeters) of rain in northern California by Wednesday.

"Several more feet of snow" is expected in the Sierra Nevada mountains, the NWS says.

The energy provider with the highest number of outages is the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, with more than 193,805 customers without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us.

More than 5,000 workers are currently responding to the storm and additional resources are expected to arrive in the coming days, according to PG&E's website.

A five-year-old was swept away by floodwaters in California on Monday.

The boy and his mother - who have yet to be identified - were reportedly in a vehicle taking him to school when it was overcome by water.

A seven-hour search for the boy was called off when it became too dangerous for divers, said local officials.

Bystanders pulled the mother out of the truck but saw the boy being swept away. His shoe was later found by rescuers.

We'll be bringing you the latest on the situation in California, as the US state experiences this severe storm.

More than 33 million people are threatened by the severe weather on Tuesday, as forecasters predict "heavy to excessive" rainfall, Reuters news agency reports.

According to the National Weather Service, wind gusts in southern California were recorded at more than 40mph (64km/h) in many places.

Image source, Getty Images

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the severe storm which is battering the US state of California. Thousands of people have been told to evacuate and at least 14 have died.

The fierce storm has caused flash flooding, closed highways, toppled trees and knocked out electricity to tens of thousands of Californians.

US President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to co-ordinate disaster relief efforts and mobilise emergency resources.

Stay with us for the latest updates.