🔗 Share this article

Portugal and Spain are once more recovering from widespread inundation following Tempest Claudia delivered heavy rain and strong winds over the past seven days.

The Storm's Formation and Trajectory

This weather system formed from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had previously driven early season freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern regions of Canada and the American north-east in early November.

This storm tracked eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean over the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the northwestern area of the Iberian region, snared in a dip of an increasingly amplified jet stream.

Impact on Spain and Portugal

Galicia in north-west Spain was hit first, with three to six inches of rain coming down along its Atlantic coast in just one full day up to the evening of Wednesday as a slow-moving band of rain crawled across western parts of the Iberian peninsula.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday led to floods to parts of Portugal where a senior pair lost their lives in the city of Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River flooded their dwelling as they were asleep.

Stormy conditions continued into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind ripping through a outdoor lodging area and a close-by inn in Albufeira in the south in southern Portugal on the weekend's Saturday, killing an British woman aged 85 and harming two dozen and eight persons.

Wider Effects across the European continent

Claudia had broader repercussions across the western European nations. By siphoning heated air from the warmer regions, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in France's south-west to 29.8C (85.6F), the country's highest recorded late autumn reading.

By Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a cold air mass across more northern parts of the continent, creating a band of rain stretching from the west of Ireland to Russia.

In the Britain, this stationary front of rain delivered exceptionally large precipitation amounts, leading to severe flooding in the Welsh region.

As the storm continues to weaken early this week, the frigid air will advance southward, delivering to Europe its initial glimpse of the winter season.

Simultaneous Occurrences in California, USA

California experienced an "atmospheric river" recently, bringing torrential rain and strong winds that led to sudden inundations and landslides in zones scarred by wildfires earlier this year.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain was recorded in the southern region of the state on last Friday, with a another 50 millimetres across extensive areas of California on Saturday.

More than 100mm of rain accumulated over shoreline regions of southern California in aggregate, hitting 200mm overall in spots on high ground.

Such a weather system is a concentrated stream of tropical, saturated air stemming from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and the town of Altadena experienced the most severe the flash flooding and landslides, leading to evacuations.

Across California, a man in his seventies lost his life after his vehicle was swept off a inundated overpass, and a young girl aged seven and her parent were dragged into the ocean by powerful waves on the the state's central shoreline.