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Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves dealing with the consequences of widespread inundation after Storm Claudia unleashed heavy rain and powerful gusts over the past seven days.

The Storm's Genesis and Journey

This meteorological event originated from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had beforehand driven early season freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern sectors of Canada and the north-eastern US in early November.

The system tracked eastwards across the Atlantic during the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, trapped within a trough of an increasingly amplified air current.

Consequences for Spain and Portugal

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was hit first, with 80-150mm of rain falling along its western coastline in just a single day up to Wednesday night as a leisurely moving system of rain drifted across the western areas of the peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on the following Thursday led to floods to parts of Portugal where an older couple lost their lives in the city of Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River entered their home as they were asleep.

Unsettled atmospheric states lasted through the weekend, with a violent whirlwind tearing through a outdoor lodging area and a close-by inn in the town of Albufeira in the Algarve region on the weekend's Saturday, fatally injuring an elderly British lady and injuring 28 people.

Broader Impacts across the European continent

The storm produced wider effects across the western European nations. By pulling tropical air from the warmer regions, the system helped temperatures in south-west France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the state's maximum ever late autumn reading.

By the following Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body met a cold air mass across more northern parts of Europe, creating a rainfall belt running from Ireland's west to Russia.

In the Britain, this stalling band of rain brought record-breaking rain accumulations, leading to major inundations in the principality of Wales.

As this weather phenomenon progressively weakens at the start of the week, the chilly atmospheric system will move towards the south, giving Europe its first taste of winter.

Related Incidents in California, USA

The US state of California experienced a plume of tropical moisture the previous week, delivering torrential rain and high-velocity gusts that resulted in flash flooding and mudslides in regions impacted by wildfires previously in the year.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain poured down in California's southern part on the week's end, with a further 50mm widely across the state on Saturday last.

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain fell over shoreline regions of Southern CA in total, hitting 200mm overall in locations at higher elevations.

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

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and the town of Altadena endured the worst of the rapid inundations and earth movements, forcing residents to flee.

Elsewhere in California, a 71-year-old man lost his life after his automobile was carried away from a inundated overpass, and a seven-year-old girl and her father were swept into the sea by large waves on the California's Central Coast.