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Portugal and Spain are once more battling the aftermath of significant flooding after Storm Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and strong winds the previous week.

Claudia's Genesis and Journey

This meteorological event developed from a low-pressure zone that had earlier driven unseasonably early chilly and snowy weather through eastern parts of Canada and the north-eastern United States during the beginning of the eleventh month.

This storm moved eastward across the Atlantic during the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the north-west of the Iberian peninsula, trapped within a trough of an increasingly amplified jet stream.

Consequences for Spain and Portugal

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was the first affected, with three to six inches of rain falling along its Atlantic coast in just 24 hours up to Wednesday evening as a sluggish front of rain drifted across the western sectors of the peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday brought flooding to Portuguese localities where an elderly couple lost their lives in the capital Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus flooded their dwelling as they rested.

Stormy conditions persisted into the weekend, with a twister ripping through a campsite and a adjacent hotel in Albufeira in the south in Portugal's south on Saturday last week, fatally injuring an British woman aged 85 and harming 28 people.

Extended Consequences across Europe

This system triggered more extensive impacts across western Europe. By siphoning heated air from the subtropics, the system assisted in raising temperatures in France's south-west to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the country's highest recorded November temperature.

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

In the United Kingdom, this stationary front of rain produced exceptionally large precipitation amounts, resulting in significant waterlogging in the Welsh region.

As this weather phenomenon progressively weakens in the coming days, the chilly atmospheric system will push south, giving Europe its initial glimpse of winter.

Parallel Events in California

The Golden State underwent an "atmospheric river" last week, bringing torrential rain and high-velocity gusts that resulted in sudden inundations and debris flows in zones scarred by wildfires earlier this year.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain poured down in southern California on the week's end, with a another 50 millimetres broadly over the state on Saturday last.

More than 100mm of rain was deposited on coastal areas of Southern CA in total, attaining 200mm overall in areas of elevated terrain.

This meteorological feature is a plume of hot, humid air coming from the tropics or subtropics.

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and Altadena region experienced the most severe the rapid inundations and earth movements, prompting evacuations.

In other parts of the state, a 71-year-old man passed away after his automobile was washed off a submerged bridge, and a seven-year-old girl and her parent were pulled into the sea by large waves on the California's Central Coast.