Tornadoes strike US South, killing 10 people amid rising risk

At least 10 people were killed in Missouri as a series of tornadoes hit the US Midwest and Southeast overnight, raking a path of destruction that was still being assessed early on Saturday, police said.

Twenty-six tornadoes were reported but not confirmed to have touched down late on Friday night and early on Saturday as a low pressure system drove powerful thunderstorms across parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri, said David Roth, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Centre.

"Today there is a high risk for more tornadoes across Alabama and Mississippi. The chance is 30 per cent," he said. "That's pretty significant."

Two of the tornado deaths occurred in southern Missouri in the Bakersfield area of Ozark County, about 434 km southeast of Kansas City, and a third death was reported in Butler County, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and other officials said.

Seven others were killed in the storms, the Missouri Highway Patrol said on X, without giving details.

As the storms regain strength, the highest possible risk of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms is on Saturday night, forecasters said.

The storms will move east throughout the day on Saturday and could hit as far east as the Florida Panhandle and Atlanta by midnight, according to the NWS.