Résumé
Recent major floods in the French Mediterranean region prompted the investigation into whether they are the consequence of climatic change. Changes in monthly and annual maximum series from 92 precipitation gauges in the French Mediterranean region were examined. Each station provided a minimum of 56 years of daily measurements. Trends were searched for using the Mann-Kendall non-parametric test and the maximum-likelihood parametric method. The main aim was to build two tests to estimate the regional significance of the local trends detected to allow estimation of whether local changes are due to chance or to a real climatic change. In Languedoc Roussillon, it was observed that monthly maxima have been decreasing in March and increasing in April. This can be explained by a transfer of rainy days from March to April. Significant increases were also detected in annual maxima and in monthly maxima in October, in the southern part of the Massif Central.