As the Polish president prepares to take his seat on the banks of the Seine along with more than a hundred other heads of state to watch the opening ceremony, Meteo-France, the French weather service, has warned of “significant rains crossing Paris at that time.”

The much-anticipated event is the first of its kind to take place outside a stadium - taking place on the Seine, the choice of venue could pose a challenge amid the weather predictions, with Meteo-France predicting “flooding rains”.

It is expected that more than 8,000 athletes from across the globe will be transported by boats along a six-kilometer stretch of the Seine. They will then sail westwards and pass some of the city’s most famous sites, such as Notre-Dame cathedral, the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro. The idea is for the boat parade to sail into the sunset against a twinkling backdrop to reflect the idea of Paris being the ‘City of Light’ - that is if the sun appears at all.

A ‘sporting armada’ is also expected to stand guard as 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers - among them Polish soldiers - frogmen and snipers watch and stand guard.

On Friday morning, a group of arsonists targeted France’s high-speed train network, which caused major disruptions to some of the country’s main lines.

Despite this, France’s minister of the interior said that “everything is minor,” that “things have been perfectly positive and so far, we do not have a particular problem to report."

Surveillance algorithms have been used by France’s high speed train network in over fifty stations in the Paris region and drones have also been utilized to fly over certain towns in the past month, including Seine-Saint-Denis.

Despite these high security measures, Sonia Velasco, a Paris resident, told TVP world: “I haven’t felt much tension.”

In fact, she said, “I’ve never seen Paris so empty.”

She continued: “It’s full of people working for the Olympics… It’s like being on a movie set.”

According to her, most Parisians have left the city during the games due to the sky-rocketing of costs.

“Some people in French Television decided not to work because they’d earn more by renting their apartment out and going on holiday than by working,” she explained.