£8m Paralympic Opening Ceremony WILL start on time despite torch relay delays as organisers 'split' flame to ensure it arrives at stadium on time
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The Paralympic Opening Ceremony will start on time, organisers said today after severe delays during the torch relay.
Volunteers carrying the torch which was to be used in the ceremony fell as far as two hours behind schedule, forcing organisers to cut timings to get it back on track.
This afternoon they were forced to 'split' the flame by lighting a separate lantern and taking it directly to the Olympic Park as a contingency measure.
The delay was caused overnight when an event at the birthplace of the Paralympics, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, overran and there were problems when transferring the flame.
Worrying weather: Rain drenches people walking at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, east London, next to the Olympic Park today ahead of the Opening Ceremony
Torchbearers carry the Paralympic Flame on the Torch Relay past Big Ben ahead of the start of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London
A Paralympic torchbearer carries the flame into Trafalgar Square
The flame arrived in London today when it reached the Shree Swaminarayan Hindu temple in Willesden, Brent, amid cheers and traditional prayers.
From there it set off on its journey through six host boroughs in the capital on its way to the Olympic Stadium and has already gone past the iconic Abbey Road.
Hundreds of people waved Union flags and drums played uplifting rhythms in the morning sunshine as Antony Eames, 32, from Wokingham, held out a torch on a red carpet at the top of the temple's staircase.
Lighting up London: The Mayor of the capital Boris Johnson greets Paralympic Torchbearers (from left) Jan Wilson, William Noble, Esther Weber, Jim Nuirhead and Francesca Porcellato as the Flame stops off at City Hall
Pride: Britain's greatest Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson (centre) leads a team of torchbearers at Piccadilly Circus
Wave: Dame Tanni greets the cheering crowds who showed up in their thousands to line the route
Spirit: Brain damaged former boxer Michael Watson, who was injured by Nigel Benn, carries the torch in Trafalgar Square
Tribute: Wounded servicemen from charity Walking with the Wounded carry the torch past the Cenotaph
The forecast for London shows there is a risk of showers for most of the day, particularly in the early afternoon
Although the relay was about two hours behind schedule when the torch was lit from a miner's lamp just before 8.30am, organisers said they hoped to claw back the delay.
A Locog spokesman said: 'A lantern lit by the unified flame will be carried by Paralympian, Chris Holmes, to City Hall for a celebration event this lunchtime. This flame will then travel to the stadium.
'Should the torch relay run late, this flame will be used to light the cauldron during the Paralympic Opening Ceremony this evening. The torch relay will continue to Stratford Park for the planned celebration.
'From there the relay flame will be transferred to a lantern and used as the back up flame during the Games.'
Last night four individual flames representing the four home nations were carried into the stadium at Stoke Mandeville, and one combined torch was carried out, a beacon of the Paralympic spirit.
Today's Paralympic torchbearers are in for a rainy relay today as heavy rain was forecast for this afternoon.
However, thousands of spectators attending the opening ceremony of the Games will be able to leave their umbrellas at home, forecasters said.
Wet weather is due to sweep across much of the UK today, with the worst of the rain falling from 9am until the early afternoon, when the flame will be making its way through London and towards the Olympic Stadium.
While temperatures will struggle to get above 15C during the evening, the rain clouds will have disappeared by 8.30pm, when the Games officially get under way.
Helen Rossington, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: 'There will be rain and showers throughout the day but it should be dry by the time the ceremony starts.
'It might be chilly though compared to how it was for the Olympics opening ceremony and there will be a brisk south-westerly wind. But it won't be raining, which is the important thing. There is only a very slight chance of a shower.'
Cheers: Crowds included many disabled people keen to support the Paralympic relay
A group of Torch bearers carried the flame across the iconic Abbey Road pedestrian crossing near the Beatles former recording studio
The flame was exchanged between torchbearers at Lords cricket ground this afternoon
The Flame has been greeted by hundreds of people even throughout the night
Although the relay was about two hours behind schedule when the torch was lit from a miner's lamp just before 8.30am, organisers said they hoped to claw back the delay
The torch was two hours late when it left the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple in north-west London this morning
Speaking of the torchbearers, she added: 'Some of them will definitely get wet. There could be quite heavy rain throughout the morning, with the whole of the UK being unsettled.'
ARMED FORCES TO GET 5,000 FREE TICKETS TO PARALYMPICS
Thousands of members of the Armed Forces will receive free tickets to the Paralympic Games.
Over 5,000 will be able to watch fellow troops who have been injured on the front line thanks to the charity Tickets for Troops and the London 2012 Ticketshare scheme.
Army personnel were drafted in after security firm G4S was unable to provide enough staff for the Olympic Games.
Today the company admitted it had delivered just 83 per cent of contracted shifts and that it was confident the Paralympic Games - starting tomorrow - would be fully staffed with a security workforce.
It was also revealed that G4S will play a bigger role in the Paralympics with an extra 3,000 workers available for the Games.
This means the company will have up to 10,000 workers despite only needing 5,000 on the ground to prevent a humiliating repeat of the Olympics security fiasco.
Nick Buckles, head of the firm, told the Daily Mirror: 'We are holding a buffer of staff every day to make sure that we can fulfil the contract.'
The security company has also reported a £50million loss on the contract for both the Olympics and Paralympics.
The band of rain will travel east, bringing showers behind it, with the most persistent downpours happening in the morning.
During the day, temperatures will reach a high of 20C in the south of England as the torch relay takes place, with some sunshine between the showers.
Despite much of the relay taking place under cover of darkness, thousands of people turned out on a clear and chilly night to watch its journey and cheer on the proud torchbearers.
Working in teams of five, the torchbearers, both disabled and non-disabled, carried the flame from the stadium to the National Spinal Injuries Centre in the village, before bearing it through Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire to Watford and then on to London.
The Paralympic relay made a pop stop off to visit Abbey Road in St John's Wood, north-west London.
Five torchbearers took the flame across the zebra crossing and recreated The Beatles' famous pose for the cover of their 1969 album Abbey Road.
Crowds lined the street, cheered and waved Union flags as Graham Helm, 38, from Lancashire, paraded the flame back across the Fab Four landmark on his own before walking it up the road.
Mr Helm, registered blind four years ago, was nominated as a torchbearer for his work with young people.
Ria Amiraly, a special needs teacher from St John's Wood, said the atmosphere at the relay had been 'buzzing'.
The 28-year-old said: 'You don't get to see people talking every day to each other like they did today, it was fascinating to be part of it.
The torch, carried by William Parkinson, Steven Randerson, Sonia Allen, Nicola Roesch and Jane Loder between Watford and Bushey, carried on through the night
Young spectators line the streets late into the evening in Tring, Hertfordshire, for the Paralympic Torch Relay
'The Paralympics are more important to me because I work with special needs children, I think it's great that people with disabilities are going out there and taking part in sport, it's really important,' she added.
Arvind Devalia, a 41-year-old writer and life coach, said: 'I had to be here, I live just round the corner.
'I have been waiting since 7.30 this morning and the torch went by fast, but it was well worth waiting for three hours.
'For me it was about the atmosphere and the camaraderie, people were so friendly and chatty and it was such a great vibe.'
Five torches are being carried to the Olympic Park by teams of five
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