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Portugal and Spain are once more dealing with the consequences of extensive flooding in the wake of Storm Claudia brought heavy rain and strong winds the previous week.

The Storm's Formation and Trajectory

The storm system developed from a low-pressure zone that had earlier ushered in unseasonably early cold and snowy conditions through the eastern regions of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern US at the start of November.

Claudia journeyed east across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the north-west of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, trapped within a trough of an ever more meandering atmospheric river.

Consequences for Spain and Portugal

Galicia in north-west Spain was initially impacted, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain pouring down along its Atlantic coast in just a single day up to Wednesday evening as a slow-moving band of rain drifted across the western sectors of the peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday led to floods to Portuguese localities where an elderly couple lost their lives in the capital Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River entered their home as they rested.

Tempestuous weather continued into the weekend, with a twister tearing through a outdoor lodging area and a nearby hotel in Albufeira in the south in Portugal's south on Saturday, claiming the life of an 85-year-old British woman and harming 28 individuals.

Extended Consequences across the European continent

The storm produced broader repercussions across the western European nations. By drawing warm air from the subtropics, the system assisted in raising temperatures in southwestern France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the country's highest recorded November temperature.

By Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body clashed with a cold air mass across the northern regions of Europe, generating a rainfall belt extending from Ireland's west to Russia.

In the United Kingdom, this stationary front of rain brought very high rainfall totals, leading to major inundations in Wales.

As this weather phenomenon progressively weakens at the start of the week, the frigid air will advance southward, delivering to Europe its initial glimpse of the winter season.

Related Incidents in California

The US state of California underwent a plume of tropical moisture last week, bringing heavy rain and high-velocity gusts that resulted in sudden inundations and debris flows in zones scarred by forest fires in the recent past.

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

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain fell over coastal areas of the state's south in total, reaching eight inches in total in areas of elevated terrain.

An atmospheric river is a plume of hot, humid air stemming from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Regions previously burned including Palisades and Altadena suffered the most intense the rapid inundations and landslides, prompting evacuations.

Elsewhere in California, a elderly male died after his car was swept off a inundated overpass, and a seven-year-old girl and her parent were swept into the sea by big swells on the California's Central Coast.