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Portugal and Spain are once more recovering from extensive flooding after Tempest Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and powerful gusts over the past seven days.

Claudia's Genesis and Journey

This weather system formed from an area of low pressure that had earlier driven unseasonably early cold and snowy conditions through eastern parts of Canada and the north-eastern United States during the beginning of the eleventh month.

The system journeyed east across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before decelerating and halting to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, caught in the trough of an increasingly amplified atmospheric river.

Effects in Spain and Portugal

Galicia in north-west Spain was hit first, with 80-150mm of rain pouring down along its western coastline in just one full day up to Wednesday evening as a slow-moving band of rain crawled across the western areas of the Iberian peninsula.

Further showers and thunderstorms on Thursday last week caused inundations to Portuguese localities where an elderly couple died in Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River flooded their dwelling as they were asleep.

Stormy conditions persisted into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind ripping through a campsite and a adjacent hotel in Albufeira in southern Portugal on the weekend's Saturday, killing an elderly British lady and harming 28 people.

Extended Consequences across Europe

The storm produced broader repercussions across Europe's western part. By drawing warm air from the warmer regions, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in France's south-west to 29.8C (85.6F), the state's maximum ever November temperature.

By Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body met a frigid air system across the northern regions of Europe, creating a rainfall belt stretching from Ireland's west to Russia.

In the UK, this halting system of rain brought very high rainfall totals, resulting in severe flooding in the principality of Wales.

As the storm continues to weaken early this week, the chilly atmospheric system will advance southward, giving Europe its initial glimpse of winter.

Simultaneous Occurrences in California, USA

California underwent a so-called atmospheric river last week, delivering torrential rain and strong winds that provoked flash flooding and debris flows in zones scarred by blazes earlier this year.

Over two inches of rain fell in the southern region of the state on last Friday, with a another 50 millimetres across extensive areas of California on the subsequent Saturday.

Over four inches of rain was deposited on coastal parts of Southern CA in all, attaining a full 200 millimetres in locations at higher elevations.

Such a weather system is a concentrated stream of hot, humid air originating from the tropics or subtropics.

Regions previously burned including Palisades and the town of Altadena experienced the most severe the rapid inundations and landslides, forcing residents to flee.

Elsewhere in California, a man in his seventies lost his life after his vehicle was washed off a inundated overpass, and a young girl aged seven and her father were swept into the Pacific by big swells on the the state's central shoreline.