Hello, we’re restarting our coverage of the wildfires in the US state of Hawaii – where the situation, particularly on the island of Maui, has grown increasingly worse.

Officials say at least 36 people have died, with the flames still being fanned by strong winds from a distant hurricane.

You join us hours after thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes and a state of emergency was declared. Some residents were reported to have escaped one of the blazes by jumping into the sea near the town of Lahaina, on Maui.

The local time in Hawaii is coming up to 01:00 and one of our US-based colleagues is heading there as we speak. Until he arrives, and the Hawaiian news cycle picks up, our teams in London and DC will bring you the latest as well as getting in to what we know has happened.