Storm Claudia

Key Stage Four Case study Hazards and risk Extreme weather

Introduction

Storm Claudia - a low-pressure system which formed in the Atlantic Ocean, brought strong winds and heavy rainfall to parts of Ireland, Wales and England on Friday November 14, 2025, as well as parts of Spain and Portugal between Wednesday November 12 and Saturday November 15, 2025.

Unlike many of the storms which hit the UK, Claudia was named by the Spanish Meteorological Service due to its impacts on the Canary Islands, mainland Spain and Portugal.

Effects in the UK

As the storm contained a lot of moisture, its heaviest impacts came from intense rainfall. The storm had an occluded weather front, and was unusual as it was being driven by east-north-easterly winds.

In this area of the UK, the prevailing (most common) wind direction tends to come from the south-west. Therefore, when the east-north-easterly wind met the typical (but weaker) south-westerly wind, the rain fell mostly on eastern facing slopes, instead of the typical western facing ones. As a result, flooding occurred in places that do not usually flood due to the different slopes the water was running down.

Figure 1: Flooding due to Storm Claudia.

A total of 119.6mm of rainfall was recorded at the Natural Resources Wales rain gauge in Gwent, south-east Wales and 80.6mm in Worcestershire, England. Although heavy rainfall caused most of the problems, the storm also brought strong winds, with speeds of 63mph (101kph) recorded in Gwynedd, Wales and 68mph (109kph) in Cumbria, England. The severe and widespread flooding in Monmouth was so serious that emergency services declared a major incident in Monmouthshire.

Due to a high-pressure system from the Arctic that had formed over parts of northern England and Scotland, Storm Claudia was stopped from moving further north and was, therefore, concentrated in particular parts of the UK.

Some of the effects of the storm in the UK are summarised in the table below:

Figure 2: Table of effects from Storm Claudia in the UK

Effects across Europe

Storm Claudia first appeared as a slow-moving band of rain in the Galicia, NW Spain with 80-150mm of rain falling in 24 hours from Wednesday November 12. Due to previous rainfall, the already saturated ground meant that localised flooding occurred in Spain and Portugal. An elderly couple died inside their flooded home in Fernao Ferro when the River Tagus near Lisbon burst its banks.

Figure 3: A simplified weather map showing the pressure systems and fronts from Storm Claudia

Concentrated strong winds which were believed to be a tornado formed in Albufeira, Portugal on Saturday November 15, destroying caravans in a campsite and damaging a nearby hotel. As a result, an 85-year-old British woman died, and 28 people were injured.

The storm brought in warm, moist air from the subtropics which contributed to temperatures reaching 29.8oC in south-west France – the highest ever temperature recorded in the country for November. This moisture ridden air collided with the colder air from the north bringing a band of frontal rain across northern parts of Europe.

Responses

The Met Office issued yellow weather warnings for rainfall across most of southern England and Wales with Amber warnings issued in central Wales to the Midlands as well as south-east Wales. Similar warnings were issued across the Algarve in Portugal.

In Wales, emergency teams responded to over 80 calls for support from the public and assisted with evacuations, cleared areas of fallen debris and checked on those who chose to stay in their properties. In addition, the local community, including charities and businesses, offered shelter, food and clothing for those who had been affected by the storm.

The Welsh Government has made over £2.5m available to support funding for grants for those affected by the flooding. Households can apply for grants between £500 and £1000 to help with recovering losses.

Although there were flood defences in place, there are calls for improvements to ensure these defences can withstand increased flood risk in areas such as Monmouth.

In Portugal, rescue teams were dispatched to the campsite in the Algarve which was affected by the suspected tornado as well as to flooded areas in Lisbon to help treat those who had been injured or trapped due to the weather event.

Storm Claudia

Introduction

Effects in the UK

Effects across Europe

Responses

Further Reading