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The Iberian nations are again dealing with the consequences of extensive flooding following Storm Claudia delivered torrential downpours and powerful gusts over the past seven days.

Claudia's Origin and Path

This meteorological event developed from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had beforehand ushered in unseasonably early cold and snowy conditions through eastern parts of the Canadian territory and the American north-east in early November.

The system moved eastward across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Iberian region, caught in the trough of an increasingly amplified jet stream.

Consequences for the Iberian Peninsula

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was initially impacted, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain coming down along its western coastline in just one full day up to the evening of Wednesday as a sluggish front of rain pushed across western parts of the Iberian peninsula.

Further showers and thunderstorms on Thursday led to floods to Portuguese localities where an older couple died in the capital Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus flooded their dwelling as they rested.

Unsettled atmospheric states persisted into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind ripping through a camping ground and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in the Algarve region on the weekend's Saturday, claiming the life of an British woman aged 85 and injuring 28 people.

Broader Impacts across Europe

Claudia had wider effects across the western European nations. By pulling tropical air from the subtropics, the system helped temperatures in south-west France to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the nation's all-time high November temperature.

By Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body collided with a chilly atmospheric body across the northern areas of the continent, generating a precipitation zone running from Ireland's west to Russia.

In the Britain, this stationary front of rain brought record-breaking rain accumulations, leading to major inundations in Wales.

As the storm progressively weakens early this week, the chilly atmospheric system will advance southward, providing the continent its premier experience of winter.

Parallel Events in California

The US state of California underwent a plume of tropical moisture recently, delivering heavy rain and powerful winds that provoked sudden inundations and landslides in areas affected by blazes in the recent past.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain fell in southern California on Friday, with a additional two inches widely across the state on Saturday.

Over four inches of rain was deposited on coastal areas of southern California in aggregate, hitting 200mm overall in locations at higher elevations.

This meteorological feature is a concentrated stream of hot, humid air stemming from the tropics or subtropics.

Locations with fire damage including Pacific Palisades and Altadena region endured the most intense the sudden floods and earth movements, forcing residents to flee.

Across California, a man in his seventies lost his life after his car was carried away from a inundated overpass, and a child of seven years and her parent were pulled into the Pacific by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.