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

The Storm's Genesis and Journey

This weather system originated from an area of low pressure that had beforehand ushered in unseasonably early cold and snowy conditions through the eastern sectors of the Canadian territory and the American north-east in early November.

This storm tracked eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the second week of November before slowing and stalling to the north-west of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, snared in a dip of an progressively more wavy atmospheric river.

Effects in Spain and Portugal

Galicia in north-west Spain was initially impacted, with 80-150mm of rain falling along its Atlantic coast in just a single day up to Wednesday night as a leisurely moving system of rain pushed across the western areas of the region.

Further showers and thunderstorms on the following Thursday caused inundations to areas in Portugal where a senior pair lost their lives in the capital Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River flooded their dwelling as they were asleep.

Unsettled atmospheric states continued into the weekend, with a tornado tearing through a outdoor lodging area and a close-by inn in the town of Albufeira in the Algarve region on Saturday last week, claiming the life of an elderly British lady and injuring 28 individuals.

Extended Consequences across the European continent

Claudia had wider effects across western Europe. By siphoning heated air from the subtropics, the system assisted in raising temperatures in France's south-west 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 chilly atmospheric body across more northern parts of Europe, generating a precipitation zone stretching from the west of Ireland to Russia.

In the United Kingdom, this stationary front of rain produced very high rainfall totals, resulting in severe flooding in the Welsh region.

As Claudia loses strength early this week, the frigid air will push south, giving Europe its initial glimpse of colder weather.

Related Incidents in California, USA

The US state of California encountered an "atmospheric river" recently, causing heavy rain and powerful winds that resulted in rapid flooding and debris flows in zones impacted by forest fires previously in the year.

Over two inches of rain fell in California's southern part on last Friday, with a additional two inches widely across the state on Saturday.

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain accumulated over coastal areas of Southern CA in all, reaching eight inches in total in areas of elevated terrain.

Such a weather system is a plume of warm, moist air coming from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

Locations with fire damage including Palisades and the town of Altadena endured the worst of the rapid inundations and earth movements, leading to evacuations.

Across California, a 71-year-old man passed away after his automobile was washed off a submerged bridge, and a child of seven years and her father were swept into the ocean by large waves on the California's Central Coast.