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The Iberian nations are again recovering from widespread inundation after Storm Claudia brought torrential downpours and strong winds last week.

The Storm's Genesis and Journey

This meteorological event originated from a low-pressure zone that had earlier driven early season freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern regions of Canada and the north-eastern United States during the beginning of the eleventh month.

This storm moved eastward across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before losing momentum and stopping to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, trapped within a trough of an progressively more wavy jet stream.

Effects in the Iberian Peninsula

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia was the first affected, with three to six inches of rain pouring down along its Atlantic coast in just a single day up to the evening of Wednesday as a slow-moving band of rain crawled across western parts of the Iberian peninsula.

Further showers and thunderstorms on Thursday caused inundations to areas in Portugal where an elderly couple perished in the city of Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus entered their home as they rested.

Unsettled atmospheric states lasted through the weekend, with a violent whirlwind ripping through a camping ground and a adjacent hotel in Albufeira in the south in Portugal's south on the weekend's Saturday, fatally injuring an British woman aged 85 and injuring 28 people.

Extended Consequences across the European continent

This system triggered more extensive impacts across the western European nations. By pulling tropical air from the subtropics, the system assisted in raising temperatures in southwestern France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the nation's all-time high late autumn reading.

By the following Friday, this warm and humid air mass clashed with a frigid air system across more northern parts of Europe, forming a rainfall belt extending from the west of Ireland to Russia.

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

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

Parallel Events in California, USA

California experienced a so-called atmospheric river last week, causing torrential rain and powerful winds that resulted in sudden inundations and landslides in zones affected by blazes earlier this year.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain fell in southern California on Friday, with a another 50 millimetres broadly over the state on Saturday last.

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

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

Burn scar areas including Pacific Palisades and the town of Altadena experienced the worst of the sudden floods and mudslides, leading to evacuations.

Across California, a 71-year-old man passed away after his automobile was carried away from a submerged bridge, and a seven-year-old girl and her parent were dragged into the ocean by powerful waves on the the state's central shoreline.