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The Iberian nations are again battling the aftermath of significant inundation after Tempest Claudia brought heavy rain and powerful gusts the previous week.

Claudia's Formation and Trajectory

The storm system formed from an area of low pressure that had previously caused unseasonably early chilly and snowy weather through eastern parts of Canada and the north-eastern US during the beginning of the eleventh month.

The system journeyed east across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before losing momentum and stopping to the north-west of the Iberian region, snared in a dip of an increasingly amplified jet stream.

Consequences for Spain and Portugal

Galicia in north-west Spain was the first affected, with 80-150mm of rain pouring down along its western coastline in just 24 hours up to Wednesday night as a slow-moving band of rain drifted across western parts of the peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on the following Thursday caused inundations to Portuguese localities where an elderly couple lost their lives in the capital Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus entered their home as they were asleep.

Stormy conditions persisted into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind tearing through a outdoor lodging area and a nearby hotel in Albufeira in the south in Portugal's south on Saturday last week, killing an 85-year-old British woman and wounding 28 people.

Wider Effects across the European continent

This system triggered wider effects across Europe's western part. By drawing warm air from the subtropical zones, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in southwestern France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the country's highest recorded autumn temperature.

By the following Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body met a frigid air system across the northern regions of the continent, generating a band of rain running from the west of Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the United Kingdom, this stalling band of rain brought exceptionally large precipitation amounts, leading to major inundations in Wales.

As Claudia continues to weaken at the start of the week, the cold air mass will push south, delivering to Europe its premier experience of the winter season.

Parallel Events in California, USA

The US state of California underwent a plume of tropical moisture the previous week, bringing intense precipitation and powerful winds that led to sudden inundations and mudslides in regions affected by wildfires earlier this year.

Over two inches of rain poured down in the southern region of the state on the week's end, with a further 50mm broadly over the state on Saturday.

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain was deposited on shoreline regions of southern California in all, reaching a full 200 millimetres in locations at higher elevations.

This meteorological feature is a plume of hot, humid air coming from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

Regions previously burned including Palisades and Altadena region endured the most intense the rapid inundations and mudslides, prompting evacuations.

Elsewhere in California, a elderly male lost his life after his car was washed off a submerged bridge, and a child of seven years and her parent were swept into the ocean by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.