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Portugal and Spain are once more recovering from widespread flooding in the wake of Storm Claudia delivered torrential downpours and strong winds over the past seven days.

The Storm's Genesis and Journey

This meteorological event formed from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had previously caused unseasonably early freezing temperatures and snowfall through eastern parts of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern United States in early November.

Claudia tracked eastwards across the Atlantic during the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Iberian peninsula, snared in a dip of an increasingly amplified air current.

Impact on the Iberian Peninsula

Galicia in north-west Spain was hit first, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain falling along its western coastline in just one full day up to the evening of Wednesday as a sluggish front of rain drifted across the western sectors of the region.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on the following Thursday led to floods to parts of Portugal where an elderly couple perished in the capital Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River flooded their dwelling as they were asleep.

Unsettled atmospheric states lasted through the weekend, with a twister devastating a outdoor lodging area and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in Portugal's south on the weekend's Saturday, fatally injuring an British woman aged 85 and wounding 28 people.

Wider Effects across Europe

This system triggered broader repercussions across Europe's western part. By siphoning heated air from the warmer regions, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in France's south-west to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the state's maximum ever November temperature.

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

In the Britain, this halting system of rain brought record-breaking rain accumulations, resulting in major inundations in Wales.

As Claudia continues to weaken early this week, the chilly atmospheric system will advance southward, delivering to Europe its initial glimpse of colder weather.

Parallel Events in California, USA

California underwent a so-called atmospheric river last week, causing heavy rain and powerful winds that provoked sudden inundations and mudslides in regions affected by forest fires earlier this year.

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

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain accumulated over coastal parts of southern California in aggregate, hitting eight inches in total in locations at higher elevations.

An atmospheric river is a narrow band of tropical, saturated air originating from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and Altadena region experienced the most intense the sudden floods and landslides, leading to evacuations.

In other parts of the state, a elderly male died after his vehicle was swept off a submerged bridge, and a child of seven years and her parent were swept into the Pacific by powerful waves on the California's Central Coast.