He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice... and he is about to set off on his journey.
Christmas is now just four weeks away but them busy elves have been hard at work getting all the toys ready for the good boys and girls.
Father Christmas has gathered his reindeers to deliver Christmas presents around the world for yet another years and in 2025, he is opening up his sack early to give us all an early present.
From December 1 we will be able to track his process with the Norad Santa Tracker, which will allow you to spot where St Nicholas is step-by-step 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.
And it will launch again for 2025 in the coming days, with the tracker going live from December 1 to watch him on his busiest month of the year.
What route does Santa take?
Of course it is magic, but the special Santa tracker tends to follow him on a similar route each year.
According to Norad, Santa begins his delivery mission on Christmas Eve on the International Date Line and heads to China before heading off to the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia.
After his first stops, it is just the rest of the world to cover, gliding 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.
But this is all changeable, depending on the reindeers ability to fly, and the number of mince pies Santa stops to scoff along the way.
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 and when to follow Father Christmas on Norad
The Norad tracker can be accessed here although is not live yet.
The system will go live on Christmas Day and is likely to watch Santa in the lead up to his big mission.
The big Christmas present drop off begins Christmas Eve, where you can follow his progress along the route.
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.
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.
