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Portugal and Spain are once more dealing with the consequences of significant flooding after Tempest Claudia delivered heavy rain and powerful gusts last week.

The Storm's Origin and Path

The storm system originated from a low-pressure zone that had beforehand driven unseasonably early chilly and snowy weather through the eastern regions of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern US during the beginning of the eleventh month.

The system journeyed east across the Atlantic Ocean over the second weekend of November before losing momentum and stopping to the north-west of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, trapped within a trough of an ever more meandering jet stream.

Impact on the Iberian Peninsula

Galicia in north-west Spain was hit first, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain coming down along its west coast in just one full day up to Wednesday evening as a sluggish front of rain pushed across the western sectors of the Iberian peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on the following Thursday caused inundations to Portuguese localities where a senior pair died in the city of Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus entered their home as they were asleep.

Tempestuous weather lasted through the weekend, with a twister tearing through a camping ground and a close-by inn in Albufeira in the Algarve region on Saturday last week, killing an 85-year-old British woman and harming two dozen and eight persons.

Broader Impacts across Europe

The storm produced wider effects across Europe's western part. By pulling tropical air from the subtropics, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in south-west France to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the nation's all-time high autumn temperature.

By Friday, this tropical air mass collided with a cold air mass across more northern parts of the continent, generating a precipitation zone stretching from western Ireland to Russia.

In the UK, this halting system of rain delivered very high rainfall totals, causing severe flooding in Wales.

As this weather phenomenon continues to weaken early this week, the chilly atmospheric system will push south, delivering to Europe its first taste of winter.

Related Incidents in California, USA

The US state of California underwent a plume of tropical moisture last week, bringing torrential rain and high-velocity gusts that provoked sudden inundations and debris flows in areas impacted by forest fires earlier this year.

Over two inches of rain fell in southern California on the week's end, with a further 50mm broadly over the state on Saturday.

More than 100mm of rain fell over coastal areas of southern California in total, attaining a full 200 millimetres in areas of elevated terrain.

This meteorological feature is a narrow band of hot, humid air originating from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

Burn scar areas including Palisades and Altadena region endured the most severe the flash flooding and earth movements, leading to evacuations.

Elsewhere in California, a elderly male lost his life after his vehicle was swept off a flooded bridge, and a seven-year-old girl and her parent were pulled into the sea by powerful waves on the Central Coast.