WASHINGTON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Last month was the hottest May since record keeping began in 1880, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Monday.

The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces was 15.54 degrees Celsius 0.74 degrees Celsius higher than the 20th century average, the NOAA said.

"This surpassed the previous record high anomaly of 0.72 degrees Celsius set in 2010," the NOAA said in its monthly state of the climate report.

"Four of the five warmest Mays on record have occurred in the past five years: 2010 (second warmest), 2012 (third warmest), 2013 (fifth warmest), and 2014 (warmest)."

Currently, 1998 has the fourth warmest May on record.

According to the NOAA, the majority of the world experienced warmer-than-average temperatures in May, with record warmth across eastern Kazakhstan, parts of Indonesia, and central and northwestern Australia.

Scattered sections across every major ocean basin were also record warm, it said.

Additionally, May 2014 marked the 39th consecutive May and 351st consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th century average.

The last below-average global temperature for May occurred in 1976 and the last below-average temperature for any month occurred in February 1985, the NOAA said.