Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been given a serious warning about their US home. The couple live with their two children in a nine-bedroom mansion in Montecito, California.

But living in their personal paradise doesn’t prevent the area from experiencing extreme weather, with mudslides caused by floods. Experts have said that, once autumn comes, the rains will return and conditions could worsen.

In January 2018, a mudflow in Montecito killed 23 people and injured 163. It caused £131 million in property damage, £5 million in emergency response costs, and another £32 million in cleanup costs.

The disaster occurred one month after a series of major wildfires. It devastated steep slopes, which caused loss of vegetation and destabilisation of the soil and greatly facilitated subsequent mudflows.

Approximately 21,000 residents of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in high elevation zones affected by the Thomas Fire were evacuated. Low-lying areas were outside the mandatory evacuation zone.

Many residents in the mandatory evacuation zone and most in the voluntary evacuation area ignored warnings and stayed in their homes, likely due to “evacuation fatigue” left over from the recent wildfires.

The previous owner of Harry and Meghan’s home, Terry Cunningham, has said he didn’t consider the weather threats of the area. The millionaire businessman built the Chateau of Riven Rock over four years.

Terry told The Mail: “We sure as hell didn’t think about it [the mudslides] when we were building, but certainly it’s something I would be thinking about now.”

The property was purchased by the Sussexes for £11 million; however, a Zillow estimate says their mansion has now doubled in value and is worth £22 million.

The couple have also purchased a home in Melides, Portugal, and is reportedly working on renovations, overhauling the property’s interiors. The £6.3 million property is situated at the exclusive CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club.