Northern California braced for mega power cut

Power is set to be cut off for around 800,000 homes, businesses and other locations in Northern California, in an attempt to prevent wildfires.

Large swathes of the San Francisco Bay Area - though not the city of San Francisco itself - are expected to be affected.

The region’s utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), has warned the shut down could last several days, drawing anger from some residents.

With weather forecasts predicting high winds, the move is intended to prevent the risk of fallen power lines from igniting the kind of wildfires that have devastated large areas of the state in previous years.

The huge “Camp Fire" in the town of Paradise last year burned 150,000 acres and left 86 people dead. An investigation determined that poorly maintained PG&E equipment was to blame for starting the blaze - the deadliest in California’s history.