Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Rain will not dampen Seine spirits
The Paris 2024 Olympic opening ceremony‘s parade of athletes on the River Seine may be impacted by rain today (26 July). Meteo-France forecasts overcast skies and light rain in the morning, with conditions improving in the afternoon. However, showers may still affect the evening ceremony.
Approximately 6,800 athletes will parade on over 90 boats along the Seine, covering 6 kilometres (3.7 miles). While 10,700 athletes are set to compete, some football players are outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti, and many athletes scheduled for the second week haven’t arrived yet.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators, including 320,000 ticket holders and invited guests, are expected to line the Seine’s banks for the parade, with security at its maximum.
According to the Weather Channel, there is a 35% chance of rain at 19:30 CEST (18:30 GMT) when the ceremony starts, increasing to 42% by 23:00 CEST (22:00 GMT), coinciding with the ceremony’s conclusion.
The ceremony will proceed as planned despite the weather. “For the moment, the risk of showers during the opening ceremony cannot be ruled out,” Meteo-France stated. “Forecasts have yet to be confirmed.”
“There is still uncertainty about the trajectory and exact position” of a rainstorm, meteorologist Cyrille Duchesne later said in a post on the channel’s website.
“Some models (have) Paris on the edge of this heavy rain, while others… see rainfall of 15-20 millimetres (1.5 to 2 centimetres), or 10 days of rain in two or three hours”. There is some good news, though, as a pleasant summer evening is anticipated. Temperatures are expected to be around 22C.