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Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves dealing with the consequences of extensive inundation following Storm Claudia unleashed heavy rain and powerful gusts over the past seven days.

Claudia's Formation and Trajectory

This meteorological event originated from a low-pressure zone that had earlier driven unseasonably early cold and snowy conditions through the eastern sectors of the Canadian territory and the American north-east during the beginning of the eleventh month.

This storm moved eastward across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Iberian peninsula, snared in a dip of an progressively more wavy air current.

Impact on Iberia

Galicia in north-west Spain was the first affected, with 80-150mm of rain coming down along its west coast in just one full day up to Wednesday night as a leisurely moving system of rain crawled across the western areas of the peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday last week led to floods to parts of Portugal where an elderly couple died in Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River invaded their residence as they rested.

Stormy conditions continued into the weekend, with a tornado ripping through a camping ground and a adjacent hotel in Albufeira in the south in Portugal's south on Saturday last week, claiming the life of an British woman aged 85 and injuring two dozen and eight persons.

Extended Consequences across Europe

Claudia had broader repercussions across the western European nations. By siphoning heated air from the subtropical zones, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in France's south-west to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the country's highest recorded autumn temperature.

By Friday, this tropical air mass met a chilly atmospheric body across the northern regions of Europe, generating a precipitation zone stretching from western Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the UK, this stalling band of rain brought exceptionally large precipitation amounts, leading to major inundations in Wales.

As this weather phenomenon continues to weaken in the coming days, the chilly atmospheric system will advance southward, delivering to Europe its premier experience of winter.

Parallel Events in California, USA

The US state of California underwent an "atmospheric river" the previous week, causing torrential rain and high-velocity gusts that resulted in flash flooding and landslides in zones affected by blazes previously in the year.

More than 50mm of rain was recorded in southern California on Friday, with a further 50mm across extensive areas of California on the subsequent Saturday.

Over four inches of rain was deposited on coastal areas of Southern CA in aggregate, attaining eight inches in total in locations at higher elevations.

This meteorological feature is a plume of tropical, saturated air stemming from the tropics or subtropics.

Regions previously burned including Palisades and Altadena region experienced the worst of the rapid inundations and landslides, prompting evacuations.

Across California, a elderly male died after his car was swept off a inundated overpass, and a child of seven years and her dad were pulled into the sea by powerful waves on the the state's central shoreline.