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The Iberian nations are again dealing with the consequences of significant flooding after Tempest Claudia unleashed heavy rain and strong winds the previous week.

Claudia's Genesis and Journey

This weather system formed from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had beforehand caused early season freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern regions of Canada and the American north-east in early November.

Claudia journeyed east across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Iberian region, snared in a dip of an increasingly amplified jet stream.

Consequences for Iberia

Galicia in north-west Spain was hit first, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain coming down along its Atlantic coast in just a single day up to the evening of Wednesday as a leisurely moving system of rain drifted across the western areas of the peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday last week led to floods to areas in Portugal where a senior pair died in the capital Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River invaded their residence as they rested.

Tempestuous weather continued into the weekend, with a twister tearing through a camping ground and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in Portugal's south on Saturday last week, claiming the life of an 85-year-old British woman and wounding 28 people.

Extended Consequences across Europe

This system triggered more extensive impacts across the western European nations. By drawing warm air from the subtropics, the system contributed to thermometers climbing 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 met a chilly atmospheric body across more northern parts of the continent, forming a precipitation zone running from the west of Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the United Kingdom, this halting system of rain delivered very high rainfall totals, leading to major inundations in Wales.

As Claudia continues to weaken early this week, the cold air mass will push south, providing the continent its initial glimpse of colder weather.

Parallel Events in the state of California

The Golden State underwent a so-called atmospheric river last week, delivering torrential rain and high-velocity gusts that resulted in flash flooding and mudslides in areas affected by blazes previously in the year.

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

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain accumulated over coastal areas of the state's south in all, hitting a full 200 millimetres in locations at higher elevations.

This meteorological feature is a plume of tropical, saturated air originating from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Locations with fire damage including Palisades and Altadena endured the most severe the rapid inundations and mudslides, prompting evacuations.

Elsewhere in California, a man in his seventies lost his life after his car was carried away from a submerged bridge, and a young girl aged seven and her father were swept into the ocean by powerful waves on the Central Coast.