This year’s Atlantic hurricane season was “unusually quiet”, with the fewest recorded events since 1982, according to Willis Re.

“Tropical cyclone activity was about 67% below the 1981 to 2010 average,” the company’s Hurricane Season Report says. There was no major hurricane, which has not happened since 1994.

“The US has not seen a major hurricane make landfall since 2005 – an eight-year stretch.”

In the season from June 1 to November 30 there were 13 named storms, compared with the long-term average of 12.

Only two, Humberto and Ingrid, attained hurricane status. Ingrid was the worst, causing the deaths of 23 people in Mexico, mainly due to flooding, and more than $US1.5 billion ($1.67 billion) of damage.

“This unusually inactive season will be an active subject of debate for some time and provides a learning opportunity to build improved and more dependable forecasts,” the report says.