The Olympic Flame will be lit by the sun's rays on the morning of May 10 in Greece at the start of its journey to the London 2012 Games, The Huffignton Post reported.

An hour-long lighting ceremony amid the historic ruins of the home of the ancient Games at the Temple of Hera in Olympia will signal the start of an eight-day relay around Greece before the flame hits British shores, starting in Cornwall.

The flame is due to arrive at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on May 17 where a London 2012 representative will be ready for the official handover.

It should be early evening when it touches down at RNAS Culdrose, near Helston in Cornwall, on May 18.

Once in Britain, the flame will be taken on a nationwide 70-day relay, from May 19 to July 27, ending with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony. The torch will be carried by 8,000 torchbearers for 8,000 miles across to the start of the Games.