The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings early Saturday for areas in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana and Texas.

Severe weather warnings remain in place throughout the weekend as extreme conditions, including a tornado outbreak, threatens the South.

At least three people have died as a powerful system of storms sweeps across a wide swathe of the central and southern of the United States, with another three killed in vehicle crashes as blinding winds whipped through Texas and Oklahoma.