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Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves dealing with the consequences of significant inundation following Storm Claudia unleashed heavy rain and strong winds last week.

The Storm's Formation and Trajectory

This meteorological event formed from an area of low pressure that had beforehand driven unseasonably early cold and snowy conditions through the eastern regions of Canada and the American north-east during the beginning of the eleventh month.

The system moved eastward across the Atlantic Ocean during the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, caught in the trough of an progressively more wavy jet stream.

Impact on the Iberian Peninsula

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was the first affected, with 80-150mm of rain coming down along its west coast in just 24 hours up to Wednesday night as a leisurely moving system of rain pushed across western parts of the peninsula.

Further showers and thunderstorms on Thursday brought flooding to parts of Portugal where an elderly couple lost their lives in the capital Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River entered their home as they rested.

Unsettled atmospheric states continued into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind ripping through a outdoor lodging area and a close-by inn in Albufeira in the south in the Algarve region on Saturday, killing an elderly British lady and harming 28 individuals.

Wider Effects across Europe

Claudia had wider effects across western Europe. By siphoning heated air from the subtropical zones, the system helped temperatures in southwestern France to 29.8C (85.6F), the country's highest recorded November temperature.

By the following Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body clashed with a chilly atmospheric body across the northern areas of the continent, forming a band of rain running from the west of Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the Britain, this halting system of rain delivered record-breaking rain accumulations, leading to major inundations in Wales.

As the storm loses strength at the start of the week, the chilly atmospheric system will advance southward, delivering to Europe its initial glimpse of winter.

Related Incidents in California, USA

California experienced an "atmospheric river" last week, causing heavy rain and high-velocity gusts that provoked rapid flooding and landslides in regions scarred by wildfires earlier this year.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain fell in southern California on the week's end, with a additional two inches broadly over the state on the subsequent Saturday.

More than 100mm of rain fell over shoreline regions of southern California in aggregate, reaching 200mm overall in areas of elevated terrain.

This meteorological feature is a narrow band of warm, moist air originating from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Regions previously burned including the Pacific Palisades area and the town of Altadena suffered the most intense the flash flooding and mudslides, forcing residents to flee.

Across California, a 71-year-old man died after his car was washed off a submerged bridge, and a child of seven years and her parent were dragged into the sea by big swells on the the state's central shoreline.