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Portugal and Spain are once more dealing with the consequences of widespread flooding following Tempest Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and powerful gusts last week.

Claudia's Genesis and Journey

The storm system formed from a low-pressure zone that had previously ushered in unseasonably early chilly and snowy weather through the eastern regions of Canada and the American north-east during the beginning of the eleventh month.

This storm moved eastward across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the northwestern area of the Iberian region, trapped within a trough of an ever more meandering atmospheric river.

Effects in the Iberian Peninsula

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia was initially impacted, with 80-150mm of rain coming down along its west coast in just a single day up to the evening of Wednesday as a sluggish front of rain crawled across western parts of the peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday last week led to floods to Portuguese localities where a senior pair perished in the capital Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River entered their home as they were asleep.

Tempestuous weather continued into the weekend, with a tornado devastating a camping ground and a close-by inn in the town of Albufeira in Portugal's south on Saturday last week, claiming the life of an British woman aged 85 and harming two dozen and eight persons.

Wider Effects across the European continent

The storm produced more extensive impacts across Europe's western part. By pulling tropical air from the warmer regions, the system assisted in raising temperatures in southwestern France to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the state's maximum ever November temperature.

By Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body met a frigid air system across the northern areas of Europe, generating a band of rain running from the west of Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the UK, this halting system of rain produced very high rainfall totals, causing major inundations in the Welsh region.

As the storm continues to weaken in the coming days, the chilly atmospheric system will push south, giving Europe its first taste of the winter season.

Parallel Events in the state of California

The Golden State encountered a so-called atmospheric river recently, delivering torrential rain and powerful winds that provoked flash flooding and landslides in regions impacted by blazes earlier this year.

Over two inches of rain fell in the southern region of the state on Friday, with a another 50 millimetres widely across the state on the subsequent Saturday.

Over four inches of rain accumulated over coastal parts of the state's south in all, reaching eight inches in total in spots on high ground.

Such a weather system is a plume of warm, moist air originating from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

Regions previously burned including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena endured the most intense the flash flooding and landslides, forcing residents to flee.

In other parts of the state, a elderly male lost his life after his automobile was washed off a submerged bridge, and a child of seven years and her parent were pulled into the ocean by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.