Screengrab of Norad’s Santa tracker
(Picture: Norad Santa)Santa Claus has started his journey delivering presents all around the world - and you can track the journey on Christmas Eve using the NORAD Santa Tracker.
NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, tracks Father Christmas’s journey around the globe and estimates his position on a GPS map.
Here’s how you can follow along with Santa’s journey:
Around nine million people visit the NORAD website to see Santa Claus’s trip. It is the most popular way to see his whereabouts as he travels the globe accompanied by his trusted team of reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.
And the site has plenty to keep eager children amused until his journey begins.
While the US-based organisation normally monitors aerospace in event of nuclear attack, since 1958 it has also had a Christmas tradition of tracking Santa.
Their tracker can be accessed here.
However, Google also has its own Santa tracker, which also has games for children, which can be accessed here.
What route does Father Christmas take?
Santa’s preparations for his journey from the North Pole began at around 9am GMT. The NORAD website revealed: “Current conditions at the North Pole indicate good weather for flying.” He is yet to depart.
To deliver all of his presents, he has to visit 390,000 homes per minute - or 6,424 per second.
He started in the South Pacific, with his first stop to the Republic of Kiribati, before heading to New Zealand and then Australia.
The UK will be further down the list in Western Europe, after he’s been to Asia and Africa.
After delivering to the good boys and girls of Great Britain, he’ll fly over to Canada, the USA, Central and South America.
However, NORAD points out that only Santa knows his route, which means it cannot predict where and when he will arrive at specific houses.
