One of the mildest Atlantic hurricane seasons in recent years drew to a close with a whimper yesterday.

There were five hurricanes in 2006, including Hurricane Florence, which damaged four homes and a hotel but surprisingly little else as it tore past Bermuda in September.

Two of the hurricanes were classed as major — Helene, whose maximum sustained winds reached 125 mph, and Gordon, which had winds up to 120 mph.

However, while this year may have seemed tame compared to the devastation caused in North America in 2004 and 2005, historically it was still about average.

Declan O'Connell of the Bermuda Weather Service said: "It's been quieter than all the forecasters were saying, but it's still turned out to be an average year when you look back at the past 50 or 60 years.

"We are half way through a period of increased activity at the moment that is likely to last for about 20 years.

"Florence was not the strongest hurricane but it was the one which came closest to Bermuda so that is the one that affected us the most."

No hurricanes hit the US shores in 2006, which came as a relief considering the previous two years saw nearly a dozen batter the country.

Tropical activity also fell well short of predictions, with just nine named storms since the season began on June 1, compared with 28 in 2005.

Weather experts say that, during this hurricane season, a shift in atmospheric pressure over the Atlantic steered storms away from coastlines and out to open ocean.

They say a warm-water trend in the Pacific, known as El Nino, also developed more rapidly than expected, generating winds that suppressed the formation of Atlantic storms.

In September, people across Bermuda had been bracing themselves for Hurricane Florence to cause as much damage as Hurricane Fabian three years ago.

They were relieved to find damage was kept to a minimum and no injuries were reported.

About 25,000 homes and businesses across the Island were without power at the storm's peak, as lines came down in winds gusting more than 100 mph.

A small number of roofs were blown off homes, while blown windows, fallen branches and pole fires caused hazards.

Fire crews were called out 60 times in 24 hours to deal with incidents including minor flooding in low lying homes.