Wildfire smoke closes Yosemite but forecast offers hope for US north-west

California governor warns about climate crisis as new wildfire evacuations ordered north-east of Los Angeles

As wildfires continued to burn across the US west coast, with smoke reaching as far as Europe, California's governor, Gavin Newsom, issued a stark warning on climate, saying: The facts are the facts."

Forecast rain for the Pacific north-west prompted hopes on Thursday of improved fire-fighting conditions in Washington state and Oregon, parts of which have been decimated and swathed in the world's worst air quality.