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Portugal and Spain are once more dealing with the consequences of extensive inundation after Tempest Claudia delivered torrential downpours and strong winds last week.

The Storm's Formation and Trajectory

This weather system formed from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had earlier caused unseasonably early chilly and snowy weather through the eastern sectors of Canada and the American north-east in early November.

The system journeyed east across the Atlantic Ocean during the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, snared in a dip of an progressively more wavy atmospheric river.

Effects in Spain and Portugal

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was the first affected, with 80-150mm of rain falling along its west coast in just 24 hours up to Wednesday night as a slow-moving band of rain pushed across the western areas of the Iberian peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on the following Thursday brought flooding to Portuguese localities where an elderly couple perished in Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus flooded their dwelling as they rested.

Stormy conditions lasted through the weekend, with a tornado devastating a outdoor lodging area and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in southern Portugal on Saturday, claiming the life of an 85-year-old British woman and harming 28 people.

Broader Impacts across the European continent

The storm produced wider effects across the western European nations. By siphoning heated air from the subtropics, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in France's south-west to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the state's maximum ever November temperature.

By Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body collided with a frigid air system across more northern parts of Europe, creating a band of rain stretching from Ireland's west to the Russian Federation.

In the United Kingdom, this halting system of rain delivered record-breaking rain accumulations, causing major inundations in the Welsh region.

As this weather phenomenon continues to weaken early this week, the frigid air will move towards the south, giving Europe its first taste of the winter season.

Parallel Events in the state of California

California experienced a so-called atmospheric river last week, delivering torrential rain and strong winds that resulted in sudden inundations and debris flows in areas scarred by wildfires in the recent past.

Over two inches of rain was recorded in the southern region of the state on the week's end, with a additional two inches widely across the state on Saturday last.

More than 100mm of rain fell over shoreline regions of Southern CA in total, attaining a full 200 millimetres in areas of elevated terrain.

This meteorological feature is a concentrated stream of tropical, saturated air originating from the tropics or subtropics.

Regions previously burned including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena experienced the most severe the flash flooding and landslides, forcing residents to flee.

Elsewhere in California, a 71-year-old man died after his vehicle was washed off a inundated overpass, and a child of seven years and her parent were swept into the ocean by powerful waves on the Central Coast.