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The Iberian nations are again battling the aftermath of widespread flooding after Storm Claudia delivered torrential downpours and powerful gusts over the past seven days.

The Storm's Genesis and Journey

This meteorological event developed from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had earlier ushered in unseasonably early freezing temperatures and snowfall through eastern parts of the Canadian territory and the American north-east during the beginning of the eleventh month.

This storm journeyed east across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before decelerating and halting to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, snared in a dip of an ever more meandering air current.

Impact on Iberia

Galicia in north-west Spain was initially impacted, with 80-150mm of rain coming down along its western coastline in just one full day up to the evening of Wednesday as a leisurely moving system of rain pushed across the western areas of the peninsula.

Further showers and thunderstorms on Thursday last week led to floods to Portuguese localities where a senior pair lost their lives in Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus entered their home as they were asleep.

Unsettled atmospheric states continued into the weekend, with a tornado tearing through a outdoor lodging area and a close-by inn in the town of Albufeira in Portugal's south on Saturday, claiming the life of an elderly British lady and wounding 28 people.

Extended Consequences across Europe

The storm produced wider effects across the western European nations. By pulling tropical air from the subtropics, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in south-west France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the nation's all-time high November temperature.

By Friday, this warm and humid air mass clashed with a cold air mass across the northern regions of Europe, generating a precipitation zone running from the west of Ireland to Russia.

In the United Kingdom, this stalling band of rain brought record-breaking rain accumulations, causing significant waterlogging in the Welsh region.

As Claudia continues to weaken at the start of the week, the chilly atmospheric system will advance southward, giving Europe its first taste of winter.

Related Incidents in the state of California

The Golden State underwent an "atmospheric river" recently, delivering heavy rain and powerful winds that provoked rapid flooding and debris flows in areas scarred by forest fires previously in the year.

More than 50mm of rain was recorded in the southern region of the state on Friday, with a another 50 millimetres widely across the state on the subsequent Saturday.

More than 100mm of rain fell over coastal parts of southern California in aggregate, attaining a full 200 millimetres in spots on high ground.

An atmospheric river is a plume of hot, humid air stemming from the tropics or subtropics.

Locations with fire damage including the Pacific Palisades area and the town of Altadena endured the most severe the sudden floods and earth movements, leading to evacuations.

Elsewhere in California, a man in his seventies lost his life after his car was washed off a inundated overpass, and a child of seven years and her dad were dragged into the Pacific by big swells on the California's Central Coast.