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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Reanna Smith

NORAD Santa tracker 2022: How to watch sleigh fly over the UK on Christmas Day

Christmas is just a few days away and that means that Santa will soon be setting out on his journey to deliver presents to boys and girls around the world.

A visit from Santa is one of the most exciting parts of the festive season as children eagerly countdown the days to his visit.

But thanks to modern technology you can now track exactly where Santa is as he travels the globe in his sleigh on December 24.

Every day of the year the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tracks everything that flies in and around Canada and the United States.

But on Christmas Eve they are tasked with the special mission of also tracking Santa on his journey around the world.

Here's everything you need to know about how you can track Santa this year.

Kids don't need to look out the window to know if Santa's passing thanks to the tracker (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

How can I track Santa?

Children can follow Santa's journey across the world by using NORAD's Santa Tracker.

NORAD's Santa tracking mission began by accident back in 1955 when the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) received a phone call from a young child who was trying to reach Santa and had dialed the misprinted phone number from a department store ad in the local newspaper.

As more calls came in a the duty officer was assigned to the phonelines and started the tradition of tracking Santa's location for children all over the world.

NORAD carried on the task when they were formed in 1958 and this year marks their 67th year of tracking Santa.

NORAD's Santa Tracker website has been open since December 1 but there's a little longer to wait until Father Christmas begins his journey.

A NORAD spokesman said: "Santa is at the North Pole, where he lives with Mrs. Claus and the elves who make toys and take care of the reindeer year round. Each year on December 24th, Santa and his reindeer launch from the North Pole very early in the morning for their famous trip around the world. The minute they launch, NORAD starts to track him!"

Starting from 9am UK time on December 24, visitors to NORAD's Santa tracking website will be able to see updates as Father Christmas makes preparations for his flight.

From 11am trackers from around the world can then phone to inquire about Santa's whereabouts by dialling the free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723), where they will either speak with a live phone operator or hear a recorded update.

NORAD takes calls from nearly every single country in the world and their Santa tracking website supports eight different languages.

Santa will be making deliveries across the world after hearing what children want for Christmas (Getty Images)

How to track Santa on Google

As well as NORAD's tracker, Santa's location on Christmas eve can also be tracked on Google.

Google launched their own Santa tracker in 2004 and

According to Google, Santa is due to make his first stop at 10pm local time in far eastern Russia, which is at 7pm in the UK.

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