At least 26 people are reported to have died in powerful storms across the United States.

The number of fatalities increased after eight people died in a highway pile-up caused by a dust storm in Sherman County, Kansas on Friday. At least 50 vehicles were involved.

Car crashes during a dust storm also killed three people in Amarillo, Texas.

Authorities in Missouri say 12 people died after tornadoes struck the state, with another three deaths reported in Arkansas.

Around 108 million people remain under widespread wind, flash flooding and wildfire alerts in central and southern US states. Hundreds of thousands of households are also without power.

Tornado warnings are in place in parts of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Indiana, and Kentucky as a massive storm system moves across the country.

Many areas across southern states are, or will soon be, dealing with widespread flash flooding, the National Weather Service warned. It added that the flooding could turn deadly.

In Butler County, Missouri, on the border with Arkansas, local coroner Jim Akers said the man and his wife were sleeping when the tornado struck.

Rescuers were able to pull the woman from the debris – but could not save the man whose mobile home was ripped apart.

“It was unrecognisable as a home. Just a debris field,” he said, describing the scene. “The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.”

Large vehicles were also pictured overturned across the state.

Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders warned the recovery could take months after surveying damage from an EF3 tornado in Cave City, in the north of the state.

A storm ranked as EF3, on a scale of one to five, requires wind speeds of between 136-165mph (218-265kph).

Hail the size of baseballs

“It’s hard to look at this level of devastation and not be heartbroken,” she said. “It’s a whole other world when you see it up close and personal.”

Winds gusting up to 80mph (130kph) were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risk in warmer, drier places to the south.

Hail was also a hazard, some the size of baseballs were reported in Christian County, the US weather service said.

Fatal pile-ups during dust storms

In the Texas city of Amarillo, three people were killed in car crashes caused by a dust storm on Friday, according to the state’s public safety department.

One of the deaths happened after three lorries collided with four other vehicles in Palmer County, Bovina’s fire chief Cesar Marquez said. Another occurred after a pile-up of an estimated 38 cars.

“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” public safety department sergeant Cindy Barkley said, calling the near-zero visibility a nightmare. “We couldn’t tell that they were all together until the dust kind of settled.”

Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state. Nearly 300 homes were damaged or destroyed, said governor Kevin Stitt.

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Three deaths happened due to storm damage in Independence County, Arkansas on Friday night, with a further 29 people injured across eight different counties, authorities said.

More than 260,000 households are without power in midwestern and southern states, according to the monitoring website PowerOutage.us.

The Storm Prediction Center at the National Weather Service issued an update on Sunday, warning of a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms.

The warning covers an area from the extreme southeastern part of Mississippi, across much of Alabama, into western Georgia and the western Florida panhandle.

US President Donald Trump has launched strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, he also warned Iran the country’s support for the group must “end immediately”.

The Iran-backed Houthis reported a series of explosions in Yemen‘s capital Sanaa on Saturday evening.

The Houthi-run health ministry said in a post on X that at least nine civilians have been killed and nine others injured.

Images shared online show plumes of black smoke over the area of the city’s airport complex, which includes a sprawling military facility.

Mr Trump said the strikes were over the group’s attacks against ships in the Red Sea.

“Your time is up, and your attacks must stop, starting today. If they don’t, hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before,” he said.

The president said Iran would be held “fully accountable” for the actions of its proxy, adding: “And we won’t be nice about it!”

The strikes come days after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing in waters off Yemen in response to Israel’s blockade on Gaza, although there have been no Houthi attacks reported since then.

Earlier this month, Israel halted all aid coming into Gaza and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if their fragile ceasefire is not extended as negotiations continue over starting a second phase.

“The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” Mr Trump wrote.

“These relentless assaults have cost the US and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk.”

The Houthis launched more than 100 attacks targeting shipping from November 2023, saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

The US, Israel and Britain have previously hit Houthi-held areas in Yemen.

According to a US official, the operation – the first strike on the Houthis under the second Trump administration – was conducted solely by the US.

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The Houthi media office said the strikes hit “a residential neighbourhood” in Sanaa’s northern district of Shouab.

Sanaa residents said at least four airstrikes hit the Eastern Geraf neighbourhood in the district, terrifying women and children in the area.

“The explosions were very strong,” said Abdallah al Alffi. “It was like an earthquake.”

Similar missile strikes against the Houthis were done multiple times by Joe Biden’s administration in response to frequent attacks by the Houthis against commercial and military vessels in the region.

At least 17 people are reported to have died in powerful storms across the United States.

Authorities in Missouri say 11 people died there, with another three deaths reported in Arkansas, and three others in car crashes amid dust storms in Texas on Friday.

Around 138 million people are at risk of severe weather in central and southern US states.

Tornado warnings are in place in parts of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Indiana, and Kentucky.

In Missouri, where a state of emergency was declared on Friday, they are predicted to reach EF2 on the tornado strength scale, which requires wind speeds of between 113mph and 157mph.

Hail the size of baseballs were reported in Christian County, the US weather service said.

Snow of up to six inches is expected in western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota, the National Weather Service said.

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Writing on X, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said two people died in Bakersfield, Ozark County, and several others were injured.

A man died after his mobile home was hit by heavy storms in Butler County, on Missouri’s Arkansas border, authorities told Sky’s US partner network NBC News.

Butler County coroner Jim Akers said the man and his wife were sleeping when the tornado came. Rescuers were able to pull the woman from the debris – but could not save the man.

“It was unrecognizable to be a home. Just a debris field,” he said, describing the scene. “The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.”

County authorities added that the number of dead there could rise, with rescue operations ongoing.

Large vehicles were also pictured overturned across the state.

Lorries fall over in dust storms

In the Texas city of Amarillo, three people were killed in car crashes caused by a dust storm on Friday, according to the state’s public safety department.

One of the deaths happened after three lorries collided with four other vehicles in Palmer County, Bovina’s fire chief Cesar Marquez said. Another occurred after a pile up of an estimated 38 cars.

“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” public safety department sergeant Cindy Barkley said, calling the near-zero visibility a nightmare. “We couldn’t tell that they were all together until the dust kind of settled.”

Wind speeds in northern Texas were as high as 62mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Dramatic videos from across the state – and Oklahoma – show huge trucks falling on their side with the strength of the dust storm.

Three of the deaths happened in Independence County, Arkansas overnight, with a further 29 people injured across eight different counties, authorities said.

The extreme weather has destroyed buildings, compromised power supplies, and caused at least 100 wildfires in multiple states.

Fires across the Southern Plains are likely to spread rapidly amid warm weather and strong winds, with evacuations ordered for some communities in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and New Mexico on Friday.

More than 400,000 households are without power in midwestern and southern states, according to the monitoring website PowerOutage.us.

Appealing to residents after implementing emergency measures, Missouri governor Mike Kehoe said on Friday: “I urge all Missourians to stay alert, monitor weather forecasts, and follow official warnings.”