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Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves recovering from extensive flooding following Storm Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and powerful gusts last week.

Claudia's Origin and Path

This meteorological event formed from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had previously driven unseasonably early chilly and snowy weather through the eastern sectors of the Canadian territory and the American north-east during the beginning of the eleventh month.

Claudia moved eastward across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Iberian peninsula, trapped within a trough of an progressively more wavy atmospheric river.

Consequences for Iberia

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was initially impacted, with 80-150mm of rain pouring down along its Atlantic coast in just 24 hours up to the evening of Wednesday as a sluggish front of rain drifted across the western areas of the Iberian peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on the following Thursday led to floods to areas in Portugal where a senior pair lost their lives in the capital Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River invaded their residence as they rested.

Stormy conditions persisted into the weekend, with a tornado ripping through a camping ground and a close-by inn in Albufeira in southern Portugal on the weekend's Saturday, fatally injuring an 85-year-old British woman and injuring 28 individuals.

Wider Effects across Europe

This system triggered wider effects across the western European nations. By drawing warm air from the subtropical zones, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in southwestern France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the country's highest recorded autumn temperature.

By the following Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a cold air mass across more northern parts of Europe, creating a rainfall belt stretching from western Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the United Kingdom, this stalling band of rain produced very high rainfall totals, causing severe flooding in the principality of Wales.

As the storm continues to weaken in the coming days, the chilly atmospheric system will push south, delivering to Europe its first taste of colder weather.

Simultaneous Occurrences in California, USA

The Golden State underwent an "atmospheric river" the previous week, causing intense precipitation and high-velocity gusts that resulted in rapid flooding and landslides in zones scarred by wildfires earlier this year.

More than 50mm of rain was recorded in southern California on last Friday, with a additional two inches widely across the state on the subsequent Saturday.

Over four inches of rain accumulated over coastal parts of southern California in total, reaching eight inches in total in locations at higher elevations.

This meteorological feature is a concentrated stream of warm, moist air coming from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Regions previously burned including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena endured the most intense the rapid inundations and mudslides, forcing residents to flee.

Across California, a 71-year-old man died after his vehicle was washed off a flooded bridge, and a seven-year-old girl and her father were pulled into the Pacific by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.