Thousands gather across London for start of the 2012 Paralympic Games

Torch ... stayed overnight in the Shree Swaminarayan Hindu temple in Willesden, Brent

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THE Paralympic Flame has arrived in London ahead of tonight’s opening ceremony.

After an overnight relay from Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire - the spiritual home of the Paralympic Games - the flame 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.
Thousands 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.

Opening ... the Paralympic cauldron is lit following the torch relay ceremony at Stoke Mandeville

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 catch up the delay.
The flame will make its way past London landmarks including the Abbey Road crossing made famous by the Beatles, Lord’s Cricket Ground and London Zoo.
Last night fourindividual 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 spiriFOUR national flames united at Stoke Mandeville, signalling a 24-hour countdown to the start of the gameDespite 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.

Cover the distance ... torchbearers Judith Cooling, Jayne Allen, Clive Turner, Christine Westlake carry flame