The Norad Santa Tracker will be in operation on December 24, so you can spot where St Nic is in his quest to pull off his one night-per-year job
The famous Santa tracker is operated by the North American Aerospace Defence Command and has been running for more than 60 years.
Here is how you can see his progress on Christmas Eve, which this year falls on a Tuesday.
How to follow Father Christmas on Norad
The Norad tracker can be accessed here.
Norad claims to be able to track Santa using an expert radar system called the North Warning System, which can detect when he has departed from the North Pole. Satellites and fighter jets also help to pinpoint his whereabouts.
What route does Santa take?
According to Norad, Santa begins his mission on the International Date Line and takes in Zhangye in China before heading off to the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia.
After a quick stop for milk and mince pies, he will glide up to Japan and the rest of eastern Asia before moving on to Africa.
From there, he will head on to Western Europe and later the US, Mexico and central and south America.
He will be accompanied by his trusted team of reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.
Norad says: “Keep in mind, Santa’s route can be affected by weather, so it’s really unpredictable. Norad co-ordinates with Santa’s Elf Launch Staff to confirm his launch time but, from that point on, Santa calls the shots. We just track him!”
How long does Santa’s route take?
Norad says that Santa “does not experience time the way we do”.
“His trip seems to take 24 hours to us but, to Santa, it might last days, weeks or even months. Santa would not want to rush the important job of delivering presents to children and spreading joy to everyone, so the only logical conclusion is that Santa somehow functions within his own time-space continuum,” they claim on their website.
