Santa Claus around the world - in pictures

Charity runners take part in the Disability Snowport UK fun run in Battersea Park, London Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Green Santa, Michael Pritchard, wearing a crown of mistletoe and holly, walks among this year's crop of mistletoe at the annual Tenbury Wells mistletoe auction Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

As a festive treat, Scottsdale Gun Club in Arizona is offering patrons a chance to pose for photos with Father Christmas while holding pistols and military rifles Photograph: Rex Features

Members of a band make their way to perform in the Swiss city of St Gallen Photograph: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

A bungee jumper leaps from a platform above Kuta beach, Bali Photograph: Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP/Getty Images

A mannequin dressed as a fisherman in a Santa Claus costume sits on a rocky outcrop in the Irish Sea near the village of Waterfoot Photograph: Cathal Mcnaughton/Reuters

Barack Obama sings a Christmas carol with Santa Claus in Washington DC Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

A man dressed up as a zombie Santa Claus takes part in a 'zombie walk' in Mexico City Photograph: Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images

A worker dressed as Santa Claus waves to children during an aquarium show in Bangkok, Thailand Photograph: Apichart Weerawong/AP

A protester takes part in a demonstration against austerity cuts in Brussels Photograph: Thierry Roge/Reuters

Security guards in Santa Claus costumes perform martial arts at a shopping centre in Seoul, South Korea Photograph: Jo Yong-hak/Reuters

Joulupukki, the Santa Claus from Lapland, Finland, waves as he disembarks from a plane in Budapest, Hungary Photograph: Imre Foldi/EPA

People dressed as Santa Claus walk on the pitch before the Serie A football match between AC Milan and Chievo at San Siro in Milan Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images

La Toya Jackson poses with Santa Claus at the Hollywood christmas parade Photograph: David Livingston/Getty Images

A man dressed as Santa Claus walks under the Christmas tree in Madrid Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images

Trainees from the Santa Claus Academy take part in a parade in Tokyo Photograph: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images

Children dressed in Santa costumes run a 5km charity race in Sydney, Australia Photograph: Daniel Munoz/Reuters

A volunteer waits in the cloakroom during a meeting at a theatre in Berlin Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/Reuters

Volunteers of America's Sidewalk Santa march through midtown Manhattan in New York Photograph: Brendan McdermiD/Reuters

The Santa Claus balloon floats down Central Park West during the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York Photograph: Gary Hershorn/Reuters