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The Iberian nations are again battling the aftermath of widespread flooding following Storm Claudia brought torrential downpours and powerful gusts the previous week.

The Storm's Genesis and Journey

This weather system developed from a low-pressure zone that had earlier driven early season freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern regions of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern United States during the beginning of the eleventh month.

This storm tracked eastwards across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before losing momentum and stopping to the north-west of the Iberian peninsula, trapped within a trough of an increasingly amplified air current.

Effects in Iberia

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was hit first, with 80-150mm of rain pouring down along its western coastline in just 24 hours up to the evening of Wednesday as a slow-moving band of rain crawled across western parts of the peninsula.

Further showers and thunderstorms on Thursday last week led to floods to parts of Portugal where an older couple lost their lives in Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River invaded their residence as they slept.

Stormy conditions continued into the weekend, with a twister tearing through a camping ground and a close-by inn in Albufeira in southern Portugal on the weekend's Saturday, killing an British woman aged 85 and harming 28 individuals.

Extended Consequences across Europe

This system triggered more extensive impacts across Europe's western part. By pulling tropical air from the subtropical zones, the system helped temperatures in France's south-west to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the nation's all-time high autumn temperature.

By Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a chilly atmospheric body across the northern regions of Europe, creating 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 the principality of Wales.

As Claudia continues to weaken in the coming days, the chilly atmospheric system will move towards the south, providing the continent its initial glimpse of the winter season.

Simultaneous Occurrences in California, USA

The US state of California underwent a plume of tropical moisture last week, delivering torrential rain and high-velocity gusts that provoked flash flooding and debris flows in regions scarred by blazes earlier this year.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain fell in the southern region of the state on the week's end, with a another 50 millimetres across extensive areas of California on the subsequent Saturday.

More than 100mm of rain fell over coastal parts of Southern CA in aggregate, attaining a full 200 millimetres in areas of elevated terrain.

Such a weather system is a concentrated stream of hot, humid air coming from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

Locations with fire damage including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena endured the most severe the rapid inundations and earth movements, prompting evacuations.

In other parts of the state, a 71-year-old man lost his life after his vehicle was carried away from a inundated overpass, and a young girl aged seven and her parent were pulled into the ocean by powerful waves on the Central Coast.