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The Iberian nations are again battling the aftermath of extensive inundation after Storm Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and powerful gusts the previous week.

The Storm's Origin and Path

This meteorological event developed from a low-pressure zone that had earlier driven early season chilly and snowy weather through eastern parts of Canada and the north-eastern United States at the start of November.

This storm tracked eastwards across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, trapped within a trough of an progressively more wavy 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 Atlantic coast in just a single day up to Wednesday evening as a sluggish front of rain crawled across the western sectors of the region.

Further showers and thunderstorms on the following Thursday led to floods to parts of Portugal where an older couple died in Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus entered their home as they rested.

Stormy conditions continued into the weekend, with a twister ripping through a camping ground and a adjacent hotel in Albufeira in the south in the Algarve region on Saturday last week, fatally injuring an elderly British lady and wounding 28 individuals.

Wider Effects across Europe

This system triggered more extensive impacts across western Europe. By siphoning heated air from the subtropical zones, the system helped temperatures in south-west France to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the nation's all-time high November temperature.

By last Friday, this tropical air mass collided with a frigid air system across the northern areas of the continent, forming a rainfall belt stretching from Ireland's west to Russia.

In the United Kingdom, this stalling band of rain delivered very high rainfall totals, leading to significant waterlogging in Wales.

As the storm continues to weaken at the start of the week, the chilly atmospheric system will move towards the south, delivering to Europe its first taste of the winter season.

Parallel Events in California

California experienced a plume of tropical moisture recently, delivering intense precipitation and powerful winds that led to rapid flooding and debris flows in regions impacted by blazes in the recent past.

Over two inches of rain poured down in southern California on Friday, with a another 50 millimetres broadly over the state on Saturday last.

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain was deposited on coastal areas of the state's south in aggregate, attaining 200mm overall in areas of elevated terrain.

This meteorological feature is a plume of tropical, saturated air stemming from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Regions previously burned including Palisades and the town of Altadena experienced the worst of the sudden floods and landslides, leading to evacuations.

Elsewhere in California, a man in his seventies passed away after his automobile was carried away from a inundated overpass, and a child of seven years and her dad were dragged into the ocean by powerful waves on the Central Coast.