NORAD Santa Tracker 2025 LIVE - follow Father Christmas on his sleigh around the world

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Christmas Day is just a matter of hours away and anticipations around the world for festive cheer are high.

Thanks to cutting-edge technology, you'll soon be able to follow Father Christmas as he drops off gifts to children across the globe.

Currently, he's preparing to leave the North Pole to fly from continent to continent with a sack full of presents for boys and girls.

As Saint Nicholas makes his way through his list, parents and children have been invited to track his journey.

Here's your complete guide to following Santa this year:

What is NORAD?

Each day of the year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tracks everything that flies above the skies of Canada and the United States. But on Christmas Eve, the command centre also takes on the very special mission of monitoring Santa's progress around the world, making sure he has every single present placed under the tree by morning.

NORAD offers a sneak peek into not only where Santa is, but how many presents he's delivered. Of course, Santa sets off from his home in the North Pole before making his huge trek across the world. It's said he visits 390,000 homes per minute - a whopping 6.424 per second.

His first stop will be the Republic of Kiribati, a paradise cluster of islands in the South Pacific.

He typically then heads west, dropping off gifts to children across New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Asia, Africa, Western Europe, Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America.

How does the tracker work?

NORAD says it uses a combination of radar and satellites to monitor Santa's progress on Christmas Eve. Its powerful radar is named the North Warning System, and has 47 installations strung across Canada's North and Alaska.

Once the radar shows he has left the North Pole, it uses special defence satellites to keep track. Its website explains: "The moment our radar tells us that Santa has lifted off, we begin to use the same satellites that we use in providing air warning of possible missile launches aimed at North America."

This year, the tracker will go live at 9am on Christmas Eve.

How do I use the NORAD Santa tracker?

Everybody can follow Santa's sleigh across the world by visiting the NORAD Santa Tracker website.

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 dialled a misprinted phone number from a department store advert in the local newspaper. The command centre has operated a special mission dedicated to tracking Father Christmas every year since.

Visit NORAD's tracker here to watch as Santa begins his journey at the North Pole on Christmas eve or download the NORAD Track Santa app to track him. Those with Amazon Alexa can ask for Santa's location through the NORAD Tracks Santa skill for at any time on December 24.

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