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Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves dealing with the consequences of extensive inundation in the wake of Tempest Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and powerful gusts the previous week.

Claudia's Formation and Trajectory

This weather system originated from an area of low pressure that had previously caused early season cold and snowy conditions through the eastern regions of Canada and the American north-east at the start of November.

The system journeyed east across the Atlantic Ocean during the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, trapped within a trough of an ever more meandering air current.

Impact on the Iberian Peninsula

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was hit first, with 80-150mm of rain pouring down along its west coast in just a single day up to Wednesday evening as a leisurely moving system of rain crawled across the western areas of the peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday led to floods to areas in Portugal where a senior pair perished in the city of Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River invaded their residence as they rested.

Unsettled atmospheric states lasted through the weekend, with a violent whirlwind devastating a campsite and a close-by inn in the town of Albufeira in the Algarve region on Saturday last week, fatally injuring an British woman aged 85 and harming 28 individuals.

Extended Consequences across Europe

Claudia had broader repercussions across the western European nations. By drawing warm air from the subtropical zones, the system assisted in raising temperatures in France's south-west to 29.8C (85.6F), the state's maximum ever late autumn reading.

By last Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body met a chilly atmospheric body across the northern areas of Europe, forming a precipitation zone stretching from western Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the UK, this stalling band of rain brought record-breaking rain accumulations, causing significant waterlogging in the Welsh region.

As the storm progressively weakens at the start of the week, the cold air mass will push south, providing the continent its initial glimpse of colder weather.

Related Incidents in California

California experienced a so-called atmospheric river recently, bringing heavy rain and strong winds that led to sudden inundations and landslides in zones scarred by forest fires earlier this year.

Over two inches of rain poured down in California's southern part on the week's end, with a further 50mm widely across the state on Saturday last.

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

Such a weather system is a concentrated stream of tropical, saturated air stemming from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

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

In other parts of the state, a man in his seventies passed away after his car was swept off a inundated overpass, and a young girl aged seven and her father were pulled into the Pacific by large waves on the California's Central Coast.