Norad Santa tracker – live: Follow Father Christmas and his reindeer around the globe
Santa Claus is coming to town – join us on his journey around the world
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Father Christmas is currently flying around the globe to deliver presents to children around the world.
Every year Norad – the North American Aerospace Defense Command – tracks Santa’s journey as he travels the planet in his sleigh.
The tradition began in 1955 when a child mistakenly rang a Colorado military command asking to speak to Father Christmas – after a local newspaper ran an advert by a department store containing a misprinted phone number.
Air Force Commander Harry Shoup, who was manning the phones that Christmas Eve, quickly realised the mistake and assured the child that he was in fact Santa Claus.
As more calls came in that night, Commander Shoup assigned a duty officer to continue answering the phone, birthing a tradition that passed over to Norad when it was formed in 1958.
Every year since, the agency – which ordinarily defends and monitors the skies over North America – has fielded children’s questions about the red-and-white-clad chimney intruder and his unrivalled delivery schedule.
Stick with us as we follow his route around the world.
Santa departs from Bangkok after delivering gifts to 2 billion children
As children around the world eagerly await Santa’s arrival on Christmas, the military is closely tracking his every move.
Armed with radar, sensors, aircraft and Christmas spirit, the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado is reporting on the movements of Santa’s sleigh since his takeoff from the North Pole for parts of the globe where Christmas comes first. Once again it is sharing those details so kids can follow along.
By late Christmas Eve in Thailand, late morning Sunday in the eastern US, the tracker reported that Santa had departed Bangkok and moved on to Burma, Tibet, China and Russia, distributing nearly 2 billion gifts so far in his travels.
Santa makes a round of England
Santa made it to England as midnight struck.
How much does Santa’s sleigh weigh? (Too many mince pies)
Santa heading for England
Santa is now in the UK as he just left Cardiff and is on his way now to Durham.
Santa arrives in Hallstatt
The charming town of Hallstatt in Austria will be sprinkled with some extra magic as Santa touches down in time to deliver Christmas gifts.
Santa is in Europe
Santa is well and truly in Europe as he delivers presents to Copenhagen.
You know what means- the man in red will soon touch down to UK. Stay tuned!
What’s Santa’s progress?
Over 3,407,301,279 presents now delivered as Santa’s reindeers race to complete the Christmas mission before the big day.
Turkey and Greece graced with Santa’s sleigh
Antalya in Turkey is Santa’s next stop on the long list. The next stop after that will be Santorini- hopefully Santa and his reindeers don’t crash into any blue domes!
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