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

The Storm's Formation and Trajectory

This meteorological event originated from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had previously caused unseasonably early cold and snowy conditions through eastern parts of the Canadian territory and the American north-east at the start of November.

Claudia moved eastward across the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the second week of November before slowing and stalling to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, trapped within a trough of an progressively more wavy air current.

Impact on Spain and Portugal

Galicia in north-west Spain was the first affected, with three to six inches of rain pouring down along its western coastline in just one full day up to Wednesday evening as a leisurely moving system of rain pushed across the western areas of the peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday led to floods to areas in Portugal where an elderly couple lost their lives in the city of Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus invaded their residence as they slept.

Stormy conditions persisted into the weekend, with a twister ripping through a camping ground and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in Portugal's south on Saturday last week, killing an 85-year-old British woman and wounding 28 individuals.

Wider Effects across Europe

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

By the following Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a cold air mass across more northern parts of the continent, forming a rainfall belt extending from the west of Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the Britain, this stalling band of rain produced record-breaking rain accumulations, causing major inundations in the principality of Wales.

As this weather phenomenon loses strength in the coming days, the cold air mass will move towards the south, giving Europe its premier experience of winter.

Parallel Events in the state of California

California experienced a plume of tropical moisture the previous week, bringing intense precipitation and strong winds that led to flash flooding and landslides in zones affected by blazes earlier this year.

More than 50mm of rain poured down in the southern region of the state on the week's end, with a further 50mm across extensive areas of California on the subsequent Saturday.

Over four inches of rain accumulated over shoreline regions of southern California in aggregate, attaining a full 200 millimetres in spots on high ground.

An atmospheric river is a plume of hot, humid air coming from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Locations with fire damage including Pacific Palisades and the town of Altadena endured the most severe the sudden floods and mudslides, prompting evacuations.

In other parts of the state, a elderly male died after his vehicle was swept off a inundated overpass, and a young girl aged seven and her father were pulled into the Pacific by powerful waves on the the state's central shoreline.