Watch: World leaders welcomed to Paris for Paralympics opening ceremony

Watch as Emmanuel Macron welcomed heads of state and international organisations to the Elysee palace ahead of the opening ceremony for the Paris Paralympic Games.

The opening celebrations began at 8pm local time (7pm GMT) in the French capital.

Like the Olympic opening ceremony, the Paralympic ceremony takes place in the city's streets rather than a stadium like the previous Games.

Up to 4,400 athletes will parade down Avenue des Champs-Élysées to arrive at Place de la Concorde in front of an estimated 65,000 spectators.

Wheelchair tennis player Lucy Shuker and wheelchair basketball player Terry Bywater have been selected as ParalympicsGB’s flagbearers.

Shuker and her former doubles partner Jordanne Whiley became the first women to win a medal for Great Britain in their sport by claiming bronze at London 2012.

They also achieved third place on the podium at Rio 2016 before winning silver at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago.

Bywater is a four-time bronze medallist – in 2004, 2008, 2016 and 2021 – and is preparing to compete at the seventh Games of his career.

Competition begins on Thursday until the closing ceremony on Sunday, 8 September.