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The Iberian nations are again dealing with the consequences of extensive flooding after Tempest Claudia brought torrential downpours and powerful gusts last week.

The Storm's Origin and Path

The storm system formed from an area of low pressure that had beforehand ushered in early season chilly and snowy weather through the eastern regions of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern United States during the beginning of the eleventh month.

The system tracked eastwards across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, snared in a dip of an ever more meandering jet stream.

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 western coastline in just 24 hours up to the evening of Wednesday as a slow-moving band of rain pushed across western parts of the Iberian peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday brought flooding to Portuguese localities where an older couple lost their lives in the city of Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus invaded their residence as they slept.

Unsettled atmospheric states persisted into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind ripping through a camping ground and a nearby hotel in Albufeira in Portugal's south on Saturday last week, killing an British woman aged 85 and wounding two dozen and eight persons.

Extended Consequences across Europe

The storm produced more extensive impacts across the western European nations. By drawing warm air from the warmer regions, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in southwestern France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the nation's all-time high autumn temperature.

By Friday, this warm and humid air mass clashed with a chilly atmospheric body across the northern regions of the continent, generating a precipitation zone stretching from Ireland's west to Russia.

In the UK, this halting system of rain delivered record-breaking rain accumulations, leading to major inundations in Wales.

As the storm loses strength in the coming days, the cold air mass will move towards the south, giving Europe its initial glimpse of colder weather.

Related Incidents in California, USA

California encountered an "atmospheric river" recently, delivering torrential rain and strong winds that resulted in sudden inundations and mudslides in areas scarred by blazes previously in the year.

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

More than 100mm of rain fell over coastal areas of Southern CA in aggregate, reaching a full 200 millimetres 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 the town of Altadena endured the most intense the sudden floods and landslides, prompting evacuations.

Elsewhere in California, a 71-year-old man died after his vehicle was washed off a inundated overpass, and a young girl aged seven and her parent were pulled into the sea by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.