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Portugal and Spain are once more recovering from extensive flooding following Storm Claudia unleashed heavy rain and strong winds the previous week.

The Storm's Formation and Trajectory

The storm system developed from a low-pressure zone that had earlier caused unseasonably early freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern sectors of the Canadian territory and the American north-east during the beginning of the eleventh month.

This storm journeyed east across the Atlantic Ocean over the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the northwestern area of the Iberian region, trapped within a trough of an progressively more wavy atmospheric river.

Impact on Iberia

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was initially impacted, with three to six inches of rain pouring down along its west coast in just one full day up to Wednesday night as a sluggish front of rain crawled across the western sectors of the peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday last week caused inundations to areas in Portugal where an older couple died in Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River flooded their dwelling as they were asleep.

Unsettled atmospheric states lasted through the weekend, with a twister devastating a camping ground and a nearby hotel in the town of Albufeira in the Algarve region on the weekend's Saturday, killing an 85-year-old British woman and harming 28 people.

Extended Consequences across the European continent

Claudia had more extensive impacts across Europe's western part. By pulling tropical air from the warmer regions, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in southwestern France to 29.8C (85.6F), the country's highest recorded late autumn reading.

By the following Friday, this tropical air mass collided with a chilly atmospheric body across more northern parts of the continent, generating a rainfall belt stretching from Ireland's west to Russia.

In the United Kingdom, this halting system of rain delivered very high rainfall totals, leading to significant waterlogging in the principality of Wales.

As Claudia progressively weakens at the start of the week, the frigid air will move towards the south, giving Europe its premier experience of colder weather.

Parallel Events in the state of California

The Golden State underwent an "atmospheric river" recently, causing torrential rain and powerful winds that resulted in flash flooding and landslides in zones affected by wildfires previously in the year.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain was recorded in southern California on last Friday, with a additional two inches across extensive areas of California on the subsequent Saturday.

Over four inches of rain was deposited on coastal parts of the state's south in total, reaching 200mm overall in spots on high ground.

An atmospheric river is a concentrated stream of tropical, saturated air originating from the tropics or subtropics.

Locations with fire damage including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena suffered the most intense the rapid inundations and landslides, forcing residents to flee.

Elsewhere in California, a man in his seventies died after his car was swept off a flooded bridge, and a child of seven years and her father were dragged into the ocean by powerful waves on the the state's central shoreline.