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Portugal and Spain are once more dealing with the consequences of significant flooding in the wake of Storm Claudia brought heavy rain and strong winds last week.

Claudia's Origin and Path

This weather system formed from an area of low pressure that had beforehand ushered in unseasonably early chilly and snowy weather through eastern parts of the Canadian territory and the American north-east at the start of November.

Claudia tracked eastwards across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before slowing and stalling to the north-west of the Iberian peninsula, snared in a dip of an ever more meandering atmospheric river.

Impact on the Iberian Peninsula

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia was the first affected, with 80-150mm of rain pouring down along its west coast in just a single day up to Wednesday evening as a leisurely moving system of rain pushed across western parts of the peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday caused inundations to Portuguese localities where an older couple lost their lives in the city of Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River invaded their residence as they were asleep.

Unsettled atmospheric states persisted into the weekend, with a twister tearing through a campsite and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in southern Portugal on Saturday, claiming the life of an British woman aged 85 and wounding two dozen and eight persons.

Broader Impacts across the European continent

This system triggered wider effects across the western European nations. By pulling tropical air from the subtropical zones, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in southwestern France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the state's maximum ever late autumn reading.

By last Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body collided with a frigid air system across the northern regions of the continent, forming a band of rain running from western Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the UK, this halting system of rain delivered very high rainfall totals, leading to significant waterlogging in the Welsh region.

As the storm loses strength in the coming days, the cold air mass will move towards the south, giving Europe its premier experience of winter.

Related Incidents in California

The Golden State underwent an "atmospheric river" last week, delivering heavy rain and powerful winds that provoked sudden inundations and debris flows in regions scarred by forest fires in the recent past.

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

More than 100mm of rain accumulated over coastal areas of the state's south in aggregate, hitting eight inches in total in locations at higher elevations.

An atmospheric river is a narrow band of hot, humid air originating from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

Locations with fire damage including Palisades and the town of Altadena experienced the most severe the rapid inundations and landslides, leading to evacuations.

In other parts of the state, a elderly male died after his automobile was carried away from a submerged bridge, and a young girl aged seven and her father were pulled into the ocean by big swells on the the state's central shoreline.