Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony on Seine River: Will rain play spoilsport?

Paris, Jul 26 (AP) — Will weather wreak havoc with the grandiose opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on the Seine River? According to the latest weather forecasts, there is a chance of rain on Friday.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is forecasting overcast skies from midday onward, with light rain anticipated in the morning. The weather should improve in the afternoon, but the weather service warned Thursday that showers could hit the Paris region in the evening, when the ceremony takes place.

If it rains, the ceremony is expected to go on as planned. It starts at 1:30 pm EDT/7:30 pm CEST/11 pm IST and should last more than three hours.

"For the moment, the risk of showers during the opening ceremony cannot be ruled out," Meteo France said.

"Forecasts have yet to be confirmed." There was some good news, though, with a balmy summer evening looming. Temperatures will be close to 22 degrees Celsius (71.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organisers said on Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine's banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats. AP