Washington DC - Last year set a record for high temperatures across the mainland US, with the nation also pummeled by a barrage of tornadoes and destructive hurricanes, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a report Friday.

The announcement came as Europe's climate monitor confirmed 2024 was the hottest year globally, with temperatures so extreme that the planet breached a critical climate threshold for the first time ever.

President-elect Donald Trump, a vocal climate skeptic, is just days away from taking office and has pledged to expand fossil fuel production – the main driver of human-caused warming – while rolling back the green policies of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

According to NOAA, the average annual temperature across the lower 48 states and Washington was 55.5 degrees Fahrenheit (13.1 degrees Celsius) – 3.5F above average and the highest in the agency's 130-year records.

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It was also the third-wettest year since 1895 and saw the second-highest number of tornadoes on record, trailing only 2004.

Annual precipitation totaled 31.6 inches – 1.7 inches above average – while 1,735 tornadoes struck amid a punishing Atlantic hurricane season that included Hurricane Helene, the second deadliest hurricane to hit the US mainland in more than half a century.

Wildfires scorched 8.8 million acres, 26% above the 20-year average. These included the devastating Park Fire in California, the state's fourth-largest on record, which consumed nearly 430,000 acres and destroyed over 600 structures.

In total, the US experienced 27 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, second only to the 28 recorded in 2023.

Weather extremes battered the country from all sides, with heavy rainfall mid-year and drought conditions covering 54% of the nation by October 29.

This does not mean the internationally agreed target of holding warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels has been permanently breached, but it is drawing dangerously near.

A repeat in 2025 is considered less likely, with the onset of a La Nina weather system expected to offer slight relief.

China remains the world's largest current emitter, but the US is historically the biggest polluter, underscoring its responsibility to confront the climate crisis, according to environmental advocates.

But progress remains tepid, with US greenhouse gas emissions dipping just 0.2% last year, according to a study by the Rhodium Group – leaving the country dangerously off track to meet its climate goals under the Paris agreement.