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The Iberian nations are again battling the aftermath of widespread flooding after Storm Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and powerful gusts last week.

Claudia's Genesis and Journey

This meteorological event developed from an area of low pressure that had earlier caused unseasonably early freezing temperatures and snowfall through eastern parts of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern United States in early November.

The system tracked eastwards across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before losing momentum and stopping to the north-west of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, caught in the trough of an progressively more wavy air current.

Effects in Iberia

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was initially impacted, with 80-150mm of rain falling along its western coastline in just one full day up to Wednesday evening as a sluggish front of rain crawled across western parts of the region.

Further showers and thunderstorms on Thursday last week led to floods to Portuguese localities where an older couple lost their lives in Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River entered their home as they slept.

Unsettled atmospheric states continued into the weekend, with a twister ripping through a campsite and a adjacent hotel in Albufeira in the south in the Algarve region on the weekend's Saturday, claiming the life of an elderly British lady and harming 28 individuals.

Broader Impacts across the European continent

Claudia had broader repercussions across the western European nations. By pulling tropical air from the warmer regions, the system assisted in raising temperatures in south-west France to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the state's maximum ever late autumn reading.

By Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body met a frigid air system across more northern parts of Europe, creating a precipitation zone running from Ireland's west to Russia.

In the United Kingdom, this stationary front of rain brought record-breaking rain accumulations, causing severe flooding in the Welsh region.

As the storm loses strength at the start of the week, the frigid air will push south, providing the continent its first taste of colder weather.

Parallel Events in California

California encountered a plume of tropical moisture the previous week, causing heavy rain and high-velocity gusts that provoked flash flooding and mudslides in regions scarred by forest fires previously in the year.

Over two inches of rain fell in California's southern part on Friday, with a further 50mm across extensive areas of California on Saturday.

Over four inches of rain fell over coastal areas of Southern CA in all, reaching 200mm overall in spots on high ground.

This meteorological feature is a concentrated stream of tropical, saturated air stemming from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

Burn scar areas including the Pacific Palisades area and the town of Altadena suffered the most severe the sudden floods and mudslides, prompting evacuations.

Across California, a man in his seventies passed away after his car was carried away from a submerged bridge, and a child of seven years and her dad were dragged into the Pacific by powerful waves on the the state's central shoreline.