London 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony – as it happened

That's it folks. It may have felt a bit too much like a Coldplay gig at times, but there's no doubting it was a spectacle and the keynote speeches were on the mark.

Thanks for reading and for your comments below.

Here's my colleague Owen Gibson's take on tonight's closing ceremony:

Six weeks after Bradley Wiggins rang in a golden summer that has exceeded all expectations, Coldplay have soundtracked an emotional final extinguishing of the flame by two of the biggest names of the Paralympics.

Ellie Simmonds and Jonnie Peacock were as much of a draw as musical guests Jay-Z and Rihanna when they stepped forward to finally put out the flame that has burned brightly throughout both Games.

Before Coldplay closed the Games in a riot of lights, lasers and fireworks, the Festival of the Flame also paid tribute to some of those who had made both Games such a success: the 70,000 Games Makers and the armed forces who had to step into the breach to provide security.

Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman, sparked a huge standing ovation from the 80,000 crowd when he thanked the Games Makers and spoke of his own most memorable moments in meeting them. International Paralympic Committee president Sir Philip Craven repeated the trick.

Jonathan Freedland reckons the Games have taught us to celebrate our imperfections:

The fire is out. The flame that lit up London for the best part of six golden weeks has flickered its last, extinguished in a closing ceremony that brought an end to the Paralympic Games and so to Britain's Olympic summer. Sunday night marked the end of a season of wonder that seemed to surprise the hosts as much as the guests, a period where we looked in the mirror and were met by an unexpected reflection – one we rather liked.

And fireworks erupt over the stadium – and over the Thames. A union flag bearing the words "Thank you London, Thank you UK" is projected on to the Houses of Parliament.

On Channel 4, Krishan Guru-Murthy sums it up: "It made us gasp and think and cry, what will we do now?"

Alexandra Topping offers her final thoughts from the stadium:

Wow – what a finale. Coldplay played their final song, the athletes danced and the crowd were on their feet. The fireworks erupted from this glorious stadium and it it felt like they were never going to stop. One by one, almost every journalist around me started tapping at their keyboards for just a second and sat back and enjoyed the wonder of the spectacle.

Even now the stadium is singing, one side answering the others echo. It has been a special evening - and a lot of fun - and now everyone will troop off home, a little sad, but proud and happy of what we have seen in London over the past six weeks.

And it's the last song of the night - Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall.

Quite fitting if Lexy Topping's Twitter feed is anything to go by – there won't be a dry eye in the stadium tonight.

Chris Martin says: "I don't want it to end, nobody wants it to end, but this is the last song of the last show ... Your last chance to celebrate."

We're back with Coldplay and their penultimate song of the night, The Scientist.

Jonathan Freedland offers his thoughts from the stadium:

I sense this crowd would gladly stay here all night if they could - not just because this show has been good, though it has, but because they want the summer of 2012 to go on forever and to leave this stadium will be to leave it behind. Not sure Jay-Z captured the wistfulness of this moment, but in a funny way Coldplay with their maudlin rock just might. It feels as if the whole country is returning to school tomorrow after a magical, unforgettable summer holiday.

We're back with Rihanna, joined on stage with Jay-Z. She's wearing the natty combination of a sheer top and what looks like a binliner.

Jay-Z launches into a remix of Coldplay's Paradise.

Some on Twitter are slightly disconcerted that RiRi and Jay-Z are not British, arguing the ceremony should be showcasing homegrown talent.

But double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah approves:

The cauldron comes down, the flame is extinguished as the fire is shared out across the stadium.

International Paralympic Committee president Sir Philip Craven says the London Games were "amazing".

He offers up this anecdote as a sign of the impact of the Games:

Before I close I want to link Stephen Hawking's words about changing perceptions across multiple dimensions from the ethereal opening ceremony, to the words of a five year old called George Glen. A few days ago George was reading a book "Treasure" with his mum, Emma.

The first page showed a man with an eye patch, a hook for a hand, a parrot on his shoulder and a wooden leg. Emma asked George who the man was, expecting him to say "a pirate". But he said "Well he only has one leg, he must be an athlete".

Sebastian Coe is starting his speech. He starts by paying tribute to the volunteers. He recalls meeting one, a doctor called Andrew, who told him he had been on duty after the 7 July bombings. The doctor told him:

For me this is closure. I wasn't sure I should come or whether I could face it. I'm so glad I did. For I've seen the worst of mankind and now I've seen the best of mankind."

Coe goes on to mention a Paralympic Game Maker called Emily who said that participating in wheelchair basketball had "lifted the cloud of limitation" surrounding disability. He adds "we will never think of sport in the same way ... or disability in the same way."

Coe concludes that the Games have reinvigorated Britain's reputation.

There are some famous words you can find stamped on the bottom of a product. Words, that when you read them, you know mean high quality, mean skill, mean creativity. We have stamped those words on the Olympic and Paralympic Games of London 2012. London 2012: made in Britain."

Alexandra Topping adds:

Some very moving speeches from Seb Coe and Philip Craven. Coe's in particular was very short, but seemed to capture the mood here. Got a huge round of applause. Of course, the biggest cheers of the night were reserved for the incredible Games Makers, the volunteers who have transformed these Games from a sporting event into a six week party. Asked to clap, the entire stadium rose in a standing ovation."

The Paralympic flag is lowered by a team of three from the Ministry of Defence: Sergeant Allen, Guardsman Baleidraulu and Flight Lieutenant Stedham. It's then passed from Boris Johnson to the President of the IPC Philip Craven and then to the mayor of Rio Eduardo Paes.

The Brazilian presentation begins with a dance battle, featuring performers in wheelchairs. The presentation is called Joy, according to Krishnan Guru-Murthy. It's a hell of a lot more joyful than Coldplay anyway.

The dance-off begins with a bloke dressed in white wearing a huge Native American headdress, possibly invoking the spirit of the Village People. (He's one of Brazil's most famous singers, says Guru-Murthy.)

Or as my colleague in the stadium puts it:

And he's been joined by a rainbow clad dancer channelling Carmen Miranda.

Coldplay are on their final song of this part of the show with Viva La Vida, perhaps about as rousing as they get.

Jonathan Freedland has sent this email through about the British Paraorchestra, who are performing with Coldplay:

I confess I didn't know there was a British Paraorchestra, but here they are making very beautiful music. This is in tune with much else about these Paralympics – the discovery of so much you didn't know or didn't expect. That there's a game such as wheelchair rugby, that a man with no arms can swim fast and gracefully, that it's possible to score a bullseye with your foot holding the bow and an arrow in your mouth. The very word disabled seems absurd really – again and again we've seen people with the most striking ability.

Oh, thank god: Rihanna's kicking up the pace with We Found Love, swinging over the stage.

And now here comes Rihanna, entering the stadium in her usual understated manner, dressed in a Guantanamo-orange gown on the deck of a steampunk pirate ship. She and Martin launch into Princess of China.

The Coldplay frontman and RiRi earlier told PA what an honour it was to perform at the closing ceremony.

Martin said: "Being asked to play at the closing celebrations for the Paralympic athletes in London is such a great honour for us.

"It was one of the biggest nights of our lives and we were excited to try to create a performance for the last night of the games that closed London 2012 in style."

Rihanna said: "Being at the Paralympics is the biggest honour. These athletes are gladiators and are a true inspiration to me."

Alexandra Topping has this update from the stadium where she's been won over by the amazing spectacle despite her usual aversion to Coldplay:

Well, we're a good few songs in and despite the doubters and the haters, Coldplay are doing what they are good at - playing big, crowd-pleasing stadium rock. Fortunately for those among us who aren't big fans, there are a lot of magical things happening in the arena to distract you from the music.

Someone has just tweeted me to say it looks a bit naff on telly. Well, I can tell you that it really doesn't from in here - the lighting is incredible, the costumes are extraordinary the constructions impressive. I wouldn't listen to it at home - but in here it works.

The funniest moment came just a few moments ago when the stadium was filled with "snow" ticker tape. I think the press tribunes must have been particularly well-placed to enjoy the blizzard. Lots of laptops covering in little white bits of paper. Funnier still are the middle-aged journalists in their suits furiously wiping said ticker tape away as they attempt to type, small piles of the stuff still on their heads …

Back to Coldplay with God Put A Smile Upon Your Face.

Actor and writer Matt Fraser, born with phocomelia – a birth defect that causes stunted limbs, in his case arms – after his mother took thalidomide while pregnant, guests on drums. He writes on his website: "That ol' devil called fate has put a smile on my face."

Then the stadium is bathed in swirling multicoloured lights for Clocks.

The central stage is now transformed into an ice rink heralding the coming of winter, with the Snow Queen emerging from a throne of icicles and cling film amid a swirl of blue dancers and crows on stilts. This is looking more like a Bat for Lashes video than Coldplay, which is no bad thing.

Coldplay launch into Paradise as dancers suspended from illuminated balloons rise and descend from the stadium.

Back to Coldplay and a huge burning face rises out of the stage behind the band, evoking the summer solstice or Burning Man festival. Apparently, it's the Sun King.

Here's our Paralympics photo blog for pictures of today's events and the closing ceremony.

And Coldplay take to the stage. They open their set with Us Against the World. (Bit of a dirge isn't it. Where's Gwyneth with her cringeworthy rendition of Straight Outta Compton when you need it?)

They've picked the pace up now with Yellow, which sees the stage bathed in, er, yellow lights.

Mackenzie invokes the spirits of the the seasons: the cleaning rain and twilight of autumn; the earth and ancient stones of winter; the new life of spring; and the fire and passion of summer.

The spirit of fire continues as a sinister army turn their flamethrowers on the stadium floor. They're followed by the weird and wonderful convoy of steampunk vehicles, which include clampasaurus, a mechanical dinosaur made of 25 BMW frames and agricultural machinery. Another truck looks like a shiny blue beetle, with its wing case rising up.

I think that's Vivienne Westood raising a banner about climate change on one of the vehicles.

Jonathan Freedland emails:

Not sure if the latest vehicle to enter the stadium is a dinosaur or a fish – but none of it matters. By now London 2012 ceremonies have their own grammar: weird, wild and wonderful. I wonder if Rio will try to follow London surreality over Beijing regimentation and spectacle.

Kenya's Mary Zakayo and Michael McKillop of Ireland receive the Whang Youn Dai Acheivement award – presented to one male and one female athlete who each "best exemplify the spirit of the Games and inspire and excite the world."

Rory Mackenzie, who was injured in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq, gives the opening speech.

The flag bearers arrive in the stadium, with gold medal winners David Weir and Sarah Storey carrying the union flag for ParalympicsGB.

Alexandra Topping has more from MacKenzie's speech:

Tonight we bring you the Festival of the Flame, the symbol of the spirit of the Games, which has burned bright here at London 2012.

Tonight we celebrate that spirit and although we have many
differences, there is one quality we all share, one thing we have in common: human spirit.

We have come together in peace for the Games and through that respect for each other we have found hope for the future.

Let the love that the Paralympics has kindled in our hearts burn brightly as we come together as one, for the Festival of the Flame.

Lexy reckons the Paralympics closing ceremony is surely the only place
you could get away with this type of thing, but adds "it kind of works.
Weirdly."

Prince Edward arrives in the stadium in a car that resembles a cross between the Ant Hill Mob's Chugga-Boom and the Creepy Coop from Hanna Barbera's Wacky Races. It is cannibalised from a 1930s gangster car and the body of a military vehicle used in Afghanistan.

The national anthem is sung by Lissa Hermon.

Captain Luke Sinnot, who lost his legs in Afghanistan, is climbing the flagpole of human endeavour, as dozens more performers march into the stadium.

PA has more on Sinnot:

A war hero who lost both legs in a blast on the battlefields of Helmand tonight helped close the Paralympic Games - by climbing a flagpole and proudly flying the Union Flag.

Captain Luke Sinnott provided an emotional and fitting end to the London games - hailed the best in history.

The courageous 32-year-old lost his limbs in 2010 after volunteering to search an area "saturated" with improvised explosive devices to protect his comrades.

Organisers described his role in the ceremony as "a supreme feat of strength and courage".

Stephen Daldry, London 2012's executive producer for the opening and closing ceremonies described the flag unveiling as "devastatingly emotional".

Sinnott, a keen sailor, is working towards his dream of competing at the Rio 2016 Paralympics in a boat funded by Help for Heroes.

Comrades from the charity played a key role in the opening minutes of the ceremony to support Sinnott.

The team joined forces to manoeuvre a heavy-wheeled machine to raise the flagpole.

Stephen Daldry describes the flag unveiling as "devastatingly emotional".

And we're off. The Festival of the Flame begins with performers from the Mutoid Waste Company entering the stadium in a convoy of steampunk style vehicles.

A horde of "wind gremlins" turn their wind machines on silver-clad dreamers, the guardians of the Agitos, the symbol of the Paralympics, accompanied by a dramatic soundtrack composed by David Arnold.

Alexandra Topping has been talking to some of the officials at the stadium:

I did manage to have a lovely chat with two field officials who are excited about the show ahead.

Joy Hoare, the only official in a wheelchair, said it felt a bit odd for her to be in the stands rather than on the pitch. "It's a wonderful feeling to be here and it's going to be a great party but it's tinged with sadness as it's all coming to a close," she said.

"It's difficult to describe what it's been like out there, the highs are just … it's magic."

She urged all young girls and boys who might – like her – be in a wheelchair, to get involved in sport. "You get out there and do it," she said. "There is something for everyone."

She has this to add about the pre-show:

[It's] a kind of magical fairytale dance troop frollicking around to slightly creepy fairground music.

All the dancers are spray-painted silver and appear to be creating the Paralympic Agitos.

Boris Johnson has been talking to Jon Snow about the impact and legacy of the Games.

The London mayor reckons the endorphin rush of the past six weeks won't suddenly dissipate: "I think actually it won't happen." He also wants the legacy to be more than just the new infrastructure of the east London site, saying "we also want to see a social legacy ... a cultural legacy". He cites the unprecedented number of volunteers who've taken part in the Games as something that could be continued, although his comments seem a bit too reminiscent of Cameron's big society.

My colleague Jonathan Freedland, who is also at the stadium, has a taste of Sebastian Coe's speech later tonight:

He emails in to add:

The stadium is full now, the seats at the centre of the track now filled with athletes - seated as if it a particularly big and noisy wedding. The Brazilian team, in their yellow tracksuit tops, have just done a Mexican wave. And that's it, the lights are down. We're off …

David Cameron has been talking to Jon Snow in the stadium on Channel 4:

It's been an absolutely golden summer of British sport. It's given the country a great lift, it's brought people together, it's given the public a great lift. There's so much that's brilliant in Britain and I think that spirit will stay alive even when the events have finished.

No mention by the prime minister of the boos that greeted chancellor George Osborne when he visited the Games. Funny that.

Channel 4 is now broadcasting the preamble to the closing ceremony. Comedian Jimmy Carr, criticised for his gag about injured British soldiers boosting the Paralympic team, tells Jon Snow how's he's been caught up in the feel good factor of the past six weeks, saying: "I feel like I've had a summer off from cynicism." Asked whether it would be back to his usual cutting remarks on Monday, Carr claimed he didn't think he could.

Can't say I'm convinced. But it does seem that the Games could mark a more positive shift in public attitudes towards disability.

Lexy Topping emails this update from the Olympic stadium:

Already an incredible atmosphere here in the stadium with a good hour to go until kick off. The athletes are filing in in their team track suits, cheered and waved by the Gamesmakers that have done so much to make London 2012 unique.

On the walk to the stadium the main drag was full of Paralympians on their way to the stadium. They posed for photographs and were cheered and encouraged by the Gamesmakers. My colleague Richard Williams has just been telling me how different that easy informality is to Beijing. Seeing the (victorious) Chinese team cheered on by a bunch of rambunctious volunteers, he wondered what they made of it all.

Rather dramatic classical music is blaring out of the speakers at the moment, adding a sense of occasion and drama to the evening. It's rammed outside, as people fill up on fish and chips and get a few - eye-wateringly priced - beers on the go.

The cauldron has been moved into the main arena and is burning bright against the clear evening sky. In front of us, in the middle of the arena, is a large circular stage, presently to be occupied by Coldplay - who, by all accounts, are going to do a good 15 or so songs. Joy!

Still - the mood is electric and people are clearly determined to have a good time. This is the very last party of what has been an amazing six weeks, and people are going to enjoy every second of it.

Britain's Paralympians will also feature prominently in show, with Quadruple gold medal winners David Weir and Sarah Storey sharing the honour of flag-bearers.

Weir stormed to his fourth gold of the Games in the wheelchair marathon earlier today. While Storey made it a four gold haul at Brands Hatch by claiming victory in the time trial and road race.

The move to appoint two to carry the Union Flag is a break from protocol, which normally sees one person bestowed with the honour. But this is one time even sticklers for tradition are unlikely to raise a protest.

So this is the end. After a glorious summer for British athletes, the London 2012 Paralympic Games draw to an end with a closing ceremony that the organisers say will celebrate the changing of the seasons and Britain's culture of festivals, ancient and modern.

The spectacle will feature a tribute to the armed forces before Coldplay perform some of their biggest hits, including Viva La Vida and Yellow, as a host of performance artists, including a battalion of "eccentric travellers" and the Mutoid Waste Company in Mad Max-style vehicles, take to the stage.

My colleague Owen Gibson says the show will try to recreate the spirit of Glastonbury and 600 other festivals, with executive producer Stephen Daldry promising it will be a "festival of flame".

The event is directed by Kevin Gavin, who also oversaw the Olympics closing ceremony, which ramped up the cheese factor with the Spice Girls, and Brian May's and Jesse J's rendition of Queen's We Will Rock You. For those of you worried that tonight's headline act signals that this ceremony will be a more middle of the road affair, Daldry has promised that it is "not just be a Coldplay concert". Indeed, Chris Martin has roped in his musical pals Jay-Z and Rihanna to up the tempo.

You can follow me on Twitter @David_Batty. My colleague Alexandra Topping will be bringing live updates from the stadium. You can follow her on Twitter @LexyTopping.