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The Iberian nations are again battling the aftermath of extensive inundation in the wake of Storm Claudia delivered heavy rain and strong winds the previous week.

The Storm's Formation and Trajectory

This meteorological event originated from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had beforehand driven early season cold and snowy conditions through the eastern sectors of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern United States in early November.

Claudia tracked eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean over the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the northwestern area of the Iberian region, snared in a dip of an ever more meandering atmospheric river.

Effects in Iberia

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was hit first, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain coming down along its western coastline in just a single day up to Wednesday evening as a slow-moving band of rain pushed across western parts of the region.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday last week brought flooding to parts of Portugal where an older couple lost their lives in Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River invaded their residence as they slept.

Stormy conditions continued into the weekend, with a tornado tearing through a campsite and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in southern Portugal on Saturday last week, fatally injuring an 85-year-old British woman and harming 28 individuals.

Extended Consequences across Europe

The storm produced broader repercussions across western Europe. By siphoning heated air from the subtropical zones, the system helped temperatures in France's south-west to 29.8C (85.6F), the country's highest recorded late autumn reading.

By last Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a cold air mass across the northern areas of Europe, generating a precipitation zone running from western Ireland to Russia.

In the UK, this stalling band of rain produced exceptionally large precipitation amounts, leading to significant waterlogging in Wales.

As this weather phenomenon progressively weakens at the start of the week, the chilly atmospheric system will advance southward, providing the continent its first taste of colder weather.

Simultaneous Occurrences in California, USA

The Golden State experienced an "atmospheric river" last week, delivering intense precipitation and strong winds that led to flash flooding and debris flows in zones scarred by wildfires in the recent past.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain was recorded in the southern region of the state on Friday, with a another 50 millimetres broadly over the state on Saturday.

More than 100mm of rain was deposited on shoreline regions of Southern CA in total, reaching a full 200 millimetres in spots on high ground.

Such a weather system is a concentrated stream of hot, humid air stemming from the tropics or subtropics.

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and Altadena experienced the worst of the rapid inundations and earth movements, forcing residents to flee.

In other parts of the state, a 71-year-old man passed away after his vehicle was washed off a submerged bridge, and a seven-year-old girl and her dad were pulled into the Pacific by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.