Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer changed his travel plans after French rail networks were hit by what the French premier has said were co-ordinated acts of sabotage.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said Sir Keir was meant to be travelling on the Eurostar to Paris ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony, but flew to France instead.

The World’s Top 10 Most Lethal Waves sounds like one of those TV shows you’d find on the listings between Deadliest Catch and Aircrash Confidential.

But half a world from Paris 2024, the Olympics is about to get very wet and even more wild.

The iconic Tahitian reef Teahupo’o is a Mecca for surfers who dream of riding its fabled 10ft barrels like golfers teeing up at St Andrews or cyclists hauling themselves up Alpe d’Huez.

But it is no place for an amateur; danger lurks with every swell and break, which is perhaps why Teahupo’o translates as a ‘place of skulls’.

Nicknamed “Chopes”, when this stunning reef roars to life - fuelled from low pressures that spin off Antarctica - you can hear it from miles away. It rises and drops so fast your heart will plummet from your mouth to pit of your stomach in fractions.

It’s 9,900 miles between Paris and Tahiti, which makes this the biggest distance between a host city and an Olympic venue, beating Stockholm - which staged equestrian in 1958 when Melbourne hosted everything else - by 100 miles.

A weather forecaster has predicted disastrous rain for the games’ unprecedented open-air ceremony in the heart of Paris later.

More than 300,000 spectators are expected to line the banks of the River Seine when the athletes parade through the heart of Paris on a flotilla of barges and riverboats, part of an extravagant opening ceremony that will be watched by a global audience of billions.

About 25mm (0.98 inch) to 30mm (1.18 inches) of rain is expected between 6pm and midnight on Friday during the three-hour ceremony attended by world leaders and global celebrities, the equivalent of 15 days of rainfall, weather forecaster Patrick Marliere said.

“It’s going to be a disaster for these few hours,” Mr Marliere, the head of independent weather forecaster Agate Meteo, said on RMC radio.

State weather forecaster Meteo France also expects rain on Friday evening, with cloudy skies.

“The scenarios of the last few days that had mentioned risks of rainfalls are being confirmed for the end of the day,” it says.

Olympic surfers based in Tahiti will miss out on the spectacle of the Games’ opening ceremony on Friday, but might have trumped their Paris-based peers with their accommodation in a freighter-cum-cruise ship serving as a floating athletes’ village. With limited accommodation options in the small villages dotted around Tahiti’s southern coast, Paris 2024 decided to house most surfers in the unique-looking 126-metre (413-foot) Aranui 5, which is anchored in the lagoon about 10 km (6.2 miles) from the venue of Teahupo’o.

“It’s my first time on a cruise ship, so yeah, it’s fun,” said New Zealand surfer Billy Stairmand.

“It’s awesome. We got nice rooms and it’s very comfortable. Got our own little space, we’ve got a gym, got everything you need so yeah, it’s a good vibe on the boat for sure,” Stairmand told Reuters.

On Thursday, Stairmand was bantering with South African surfers Jordy Smith and Matt McGillivray onboard as they watched their Olympic rugby sevens teams on do battle in Paris.

The ship usually accommodates 230 passengers and charges around $5,700 per person for a 12-day, 11-night cruise in a standard cabin to the Marquesas Islands, taking cargo along with paying passengers. If you want the presidential suite, that will set you back about $10,000 per person.

On board are 28 athletes from 19 delegations, each in a single room with a double bed - no one got the presidential suite. In a post on Instagram, Peru’s Sol Aguirre showcased her room complete with flat screen TV, flower garlands and a view to the jungle-clad mountains over the lagoon from her balcony.

Tenders take the surfers between the contest site and the Aranui, which means the great path, and bring in fresh food and other supplies from a nearby village.

“It’s a half an hour drive every morning but I guess that’s just what comes with the whole process of it all,” said Stairmand. “It’s cool. I love Tahiti, it’s very powerful place so it’s awesome to wake up here and kind of check the coastline every morning and feel refreshed and energised.” Surfers said that while missing the buzz of the Paris village and the opening ceremony and the lack of spectators was a shame, the unique location, perfect waves and chilled local vibes made up for it.

“Obviously it would have been cool to get some spectators. But at the same time we’re here for a job you know, we’re here to get medals and at times it probably could be distracting,” said Stairmand.

“We’re in our little bubble and we’re doing everything we can to get those medals.”

Women’s boxing made its debut at London 2012 and she sealed her place in history by becoming the first woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal, changing not only her life but the entire profile of the sport in the United Kingdom.

Eurostar has announced the first trains to be axed following the attack on the high-speed line from Lille to Paris, writes Simon Calder.

The passenger train operator between London and Paris has cancelled the 3.31pm and 7.01pm departures to the French capital on Friday.

Both trains had been heavily booked with close to 900 travellers on each.

Eurostar told passengers: “We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.”

Passengers were told to “exchange your booking for free to travel in the same travel class at a different time or date” or “cancel your booking and get a refund”.

Very few seats are available on alternative services in the next few days.

Eurostar says it will cancel 25 per cent of trains on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

This would mean four or five trains axed on Friday and four on each weekend day.

Crowds of passengers built up at Montparnasse station in the south of Paris amid the delays. Some have been waiting since 6.40 this morning for a train, according to French daily paper Le Monde.

Coached by Phelps’s former mentor Bob Bowman, Marchand broke the final world record of the most successful Olympian ever last summer and will now look to claim a first Olympic title at the age of 22.

In all, Marchand is competing in four individual events, looking to join Phelps, Mark Spitz, and Kristin Otto as the only swimmers to claim four individual golds at the same Games.

And for Alain Bernard, France’s most successful Olympic swimmer and a double gold medallist, the pressure facing Marchand is like nothing he has ever seen.