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Portugal and Spain are once more dealing with the consequences of extensive inundation following Tempest Claudia unleashed heavy rain and strong winds over the past seven days.

Claudia's Origin and Path

This meteorological event formed from a low-pressure zone that had previously driven unseasonably early chilly and snowy weather through the eastern sectors of Canada and the north-eastern United States in early November.

The system moved eastward across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before decelerating and halting to the northwestern area of the Iberian region, trapped within a trough of an progressively more wavy atmospheric river.

Effects in Iberia

Galicia in north-west Spain was initially impacted, with 80-150mm of rain pouring down along its Atlantic coast in just 24 hours up to the evening of Wednesday as a sluggish front of rain pushed across western parts of the Iberian peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on the following Thursday led to floods to parts of Portugal where an elderly couple lost their lives in Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River flooded their dwelling as they rested.

Unsettled atmospheric states persisted into the weekend, with a tornado ripping through a campsite and a adjacent hotel in Albufeira in the south in the Algarve region on Saturday, fatally injuring an elderly British lady and harming two dozen and eight persons.

Extended Consequences across the European continent

Claudia had broader repercussions across western Europe. By pulling tropical air from the subtropics, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in south-west France to 29.8C (85.6F), the country's highest recorded November temperature.

By last Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a cold air mass across the northern regions of Europe, generating a precipitation zone running from western Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the Britain, this stationary front of rain brought record-breaking rain accumulations, resulting in severe flooding in Wales.

As this weather phenomenon progressively weakens in the coming days, the chilly atmospheric system will advance southward, giving Europe its initial glimpse of winter.

Parallel Events in California, USA

The Golden State encountered a plume of tropical moisture the previous week, causing heavy rain and high-velocity gusts that led to flash flooding and debris flows in areas impacted by blazes previously in the year.

Over two inches of rain fell in southern California on last Friday, with a further 50mm widely across the state on the subsequent Saturday.

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain fell over coastal parts of Southern CA in total, reaching 200mm overall in spots on high ground.

An atmospheric river is a concentrated stream of tropical, saturated air originating from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Burn scar areas including Palisades and Altadena experienced the most intense the sudden floods and mudslides, leading to evacuations.

Elsewhere in California, a man in his seventies lost his life after his automobile was swept off a flooded bridge, and a seven-year-old girl and her father were dragged into the sea by powerful waves on the California's Central Coast.