A huge fire has broken out at Dubai's Torch tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world.

More than 40 floors of the 86-storey Marina Torch (more commonly referred to as The Torch tower) were engulfed by flames.

Footage of the blaze showed smoke billowing into the air, while debris from the building fell to the ground.

Residents of the 335m (1,100ft) high building were evacuated after the fire broke out at around 1am local time, 10pm BST.

By 3.30am Dubai's Civil Defense said the blaze had been brought under control and that no injuries had been reported.

Fires have broken out at several skyscrapers ion the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the past few years, with building and safety experts citing a popular type of cladding covering the buildings that can be highly flammable.

Earlier in 2017, Dubai passed new fire safety rules requiring buildings with quick-burning side panelling to replace it with more fire-resistant siding.

Authorities had previously acknowledged that at least 30,000 buildings across the UAE have cladding or panelling that safety experts have said accelerates the rapid spread of fires.

The blaze comes just two years after a fire broke out on The Torch's 79th floor, leading to the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

There were no reported casualties in the 2015 fire.