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Portugal and Spain are once more battling the aftermath of widespread flooding following Storm Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and strong winds over the past seven days.

The Storm's Origin and Path

The storm system originated from a low-pressure zone that had previously ushered in unseasonably early cold and snowy conditions through the eastern sectors of Canada and the north-eastern United States in early November.

This storm journeyed east across the Atlantic Ocean during the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Iberian region, caught in the trough of an ever more meandering jet stream.

Effects in Spain and Portugal

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia 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 night as a slow-moving band of rain crawled across the western areas of the Iberian peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday caused inundations to areas in Portugal where an older couple perished in the capital Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River entered their home as they slept.

Tempestuous weather continued into the weekend, with a twister ripping through a outdoor lodging area and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in the Algarve region on Saturday, claiming the life of an 85-year-old British woman and injuring 28 people.

Wider Effects across Europe

This system triggered broader repercussions across western Europe. By drawing warm air from the subtropics, the system assisted in raising temperatures in south-west France to 29.8C (85.6F), the nation's all-time high autumn temperature.

By last Friday, this tropical air mass met a chilly atmospheric body across the northern areas of the continent, forming a band of rain running from the west of Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the UK, this stalling band of rain delivered exceptionally large precipitation amounts, leading to significant waterlogging in the Welsh region.

As the storm continues to weaken early this week, the cold air mass will push south, delivering to Europe its initial glimpse of the winter season.

Parallel Events in California

The US state of California experienced a plume of tropical moisture recently, causing heavy rain and high-velocity gusts that provoked rapid flooding and debris flows in regions scarred by wildfires in the recent past.

Over two inches of rain was recorded in the southern region of the state on the week's end, with a further 50mm widely across the state on Saturday.

More than 100mm of rain was deposited on shoreline regions of southern California in total, attaining eight inches in total in areas of elevated terrain.

This meteorological feature is a narrow band of warm, moist air stemming from the tropics or subtropics.

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and Altadena region suffered the most intense the sudden floods and landslides, prompting evacuations.

Elsewhere in California, a man in his seventies died after his vehicle was washed off a submerged bridge, and a seven-year-old girl and her father were swept into the ocean by large waves on the California's Central Coast.