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Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves dealing with the consequences of widespread flooding in the wake of Storm Claudia brought heavy rain and powerful gusts over the past seven days.

Claudia's Formation and Trajectory

This weather system originated from a low-pressure zone that had previously driven unseasonably early freezing temperatures and snowfall through eastern parts of Canada and the north-eastern United States in early November.

The system journeyed east across the Atlantic Ocean over the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Iberian peninsula, snared in a dip of an increasingly amplified jet stream.

Effects in Iberia

Galicia in north-west Spain was initially impacted, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain falling along its western coastline in just 24 hours up to Wednesday night as a leisurely moving system of rain drifted across the western sectors of the Iberian peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday led to floods to areas in Portugal where an older couple died in Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus flooded their dwelling as they rested.

Stormy conditions persisted into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind ripping through a camping ground and a nearby hotel in Albufeira in Portugal's south on Saturday, killing an 85-year-old British woman and injuring 28 individuals.

Extended Consequences across Europe

This system triggered wider effects across western Europe. By siphoning heated air from the warmer regions, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in southwestern France to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the nation's all-time high late autumn reading.

By the following Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body met a cold air mass across the northern regions of Europe, forming a rainfall belt stretching from western Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the United Kingdom, this stationary front of rain delivered exceptionally large precipitation amounts, causing significant waterlogging in the principality of Wales.

As the storm progressively weakens in the coming days, the frigid air will advance southward, giving Europe its first taste of colder weather.

Related Incidents in California

California underwent a plume of tropical moisture last week, delivering heavy rain and strong winds that provoked flash flooding and mudslides in areas affected by wildfires previously in the year.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain was recorded in California's southern part on the week's end, with a another 50 millimetres widely across the state on Saturday last.

Over four inches of rain accumulated over shoreline regions of southern California in all, reaching 200mm overall in areas of elevated terrain.

An atmospheric river is a concentrated stream of warm, moist air coming from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

Locations with fire damage including Pacific Palisades and the town of Altadena endured the most severe the rapid inundations and earth movements, leading to evacuations.

Elsewhere in California, a 71-year-old man passed away after his automobile was washed off a inundated overpass, and a child of seven years and her father were swept into the Pacific by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.