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Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves recovering from extensive flooding following Storm Claudia unleashed heavy rain and powerful gusts last week.

The Storm's Formation and Trajectory

This weather system originated from an area of low pressure that had previously caused early season chilly and snowy weather through eastern parts of Canada and the north-eastern United States at the start of November.

This storm tracked eastwards across the Atlantic during the second weekend of November before losing momentum and stopping to the northwestern area of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, trapped within a trough of an ever more meandering air current.

Impact on the Iberian Peninsula

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia was initially impacted, with three to six inches of rain coming down along its Atlantic coast in just one full day up to Wednesday evening as a leisurely moving system of rain pushed across the western areas of the region.

More downpours and stormy weather on the following Thursday led to floods to parts of Portugal where a senior pair lost their lives in the capital Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus invaded their residence as they rested.

Tempestuous weather continued into the weekend, with a tornado ripping through a outdoor lodging area and a nearby hotel in the town of Albufeira in southern Portugal on the weekend's Saturday, fatally injuring an elderly British lady and injuring 28 individuals.

Wider Effects across the European continent

Claudia had wider effects across western Europe. By pulling tropical air from the subtropical zones, the system helped temperatures in southwestern France to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the nation's all-time high November temperature.

By last Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a frigid air system across the northern regions of the continent, creating a precipitation zone stretching from western Ireland to Russia.

In the United Kingdom, this stationary front of rain brought exceptionally large precipitation amounts, leading to major inundations in the Welsh region.

As this weather phenomenon loses strength early this week, the frigid air will push south, giving Europe its first taste of winter.

Related Incidents in the state of California

California underwent a so-called atmospheric river last week, delivering heavy rain and high-velocity gusts that led to flash flooding and debris flows in zones affected by forest fires earlier this year.

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

More than 100mm of rain accumulated over shoreline regions of the state's south in total, reaching 200mm overall in locations at higher elevations.

Such a weather system is a plume of warm, moist air originating from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Burn scar areas including the Pacific Palisades area and the town of Altadena endured the worst of the rapid inundations and mudslides, forcing residents to flee.

Elsewhere in California, a elderly male lost his life after his vehicle was washed off a inundated overpass, and a seven-year-old girl and her father were swept into the sea by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.