NORAD's Santa Tracker is now live and you can see where he is in real time.

Santa will shortly take to the skies on his epic trip around the world to deliver presents to every child who has been nice this year.

Hopefully you've got some mince pies or biscuits ready for the big man arriving. Don't forget to put some lovely carrots out for the reindeer too.

If you want to make reindeer food yourself before bed then remember they love to eat plain oats. They hate glitter too, so just nice fresh oats - the RSPCA has some really great information on this.

You can see where Santa is currently in the video above, or by visiting the NORAD Santa Tracker.

Where is Santa right now?

Santa is now on his way to Hawaii. We're jealous, but he's earned a short break in the sun!

Astronauts on the International Space Station are helping track Santa

David Saint-Jacques a Canadian Space Agency astronaut has tweeted that he's proud to be helping NORAD keep track of Santa this Christmas.

(
Image:
NASA)

Saint-Jacques said "Today, from the @Space_Station, I am helping @noradsanta track Santa!".

How many presents has Santa delivered so far?

A whopping 5 BILLION presents have been delivered to children around the world so far.

Santa clocked up an amazing 4 billion presents shortly after leaving Britain and Ireland.

He went over the three billion mark as he went over South Africa.

9:30am - Alaska

Santa is on the home straight now, he's about to deliver gifts to kids in Alaska.

it's traditional in the most northern US state to reward carol singers with donuts cookies or fish pie!

8:45am Christmas day - San Francisco

Santa is about to hit San Francisco with his festive gifts.

Much like New York, the Bay Area residents love to spend some time on ice rinks at Christmas.

Up on Nob Hill, the famous Fairmont Hotel builds an annual gingerbread house that's a massive two stories high!

San Francisco Zoo also has an impressive light display that's sure to impress Santa.

3.10am - United States

NORAD tracked Santa entering U.S. airspace at 3.10am UK time (10.10pm E.T.) starting in South Carolina.

Father Christmas stopped off in Washington D.C., where Donald Trump and First Lady Melania took calls from children wanting to speak to the man himself (Santa, not the President).

Donald and Melania Trump helped Santa out by taking phone calls from children who believe in him (
Image:
REUTERS)

From there, Old Saint Nick was spotted flying over the Statue of Liberty as he arrived in New York before heading to Rhode Island.

He's now crossing from the east coast to the west taking in each of the 50 states.

11.48pm - Britain

Santa entered britain from the Channel

Santa arrived in Britain at around 11.48pm and he and his reindeer pulled the sleigh across the skies over the UK and Ireland until around 00.08am.

He passed over London, Edinburgh, Cork, Birmingham, Belfast and Tonypandy.

He delivered an amazing amount of resents to all the boys and girls of the United Kingdom in that time, before heading off in the direction of the Faroe Islands and then Iceland.

We think he ate the mince pies and biscuits you left out for him, because Santa was traveling a little more lowly as he left. It also looke to us like the reindeer had eaten all the carrots for the same reason.

11.46 - Portugal

After passing over Lisbon Santa looks to be heading in straight for us!

10.40pm - France

On Christmas Eve French families enjoy Le Réveillon de Noël, a meal served around midnight while Santa is about halfway through his route.

French children often leave shoes by the fire, instead of stockings, for Santa to fill with presents.

10.10pm - Germany

Tinsel was invented in Germany where legend has it that it weaved by a Christmas Spider overnight and then magically turned into silver. That's because tinsel was originally made from real silver.

9.55pm - Poland

Polish people often celebrate the arrival of Christmas with a fast that begins on Christmas Eve.

It's traditional to have an empty setting at the Christmas table for the lord, or a lost traveller - so perhaps Santa could stop by for a traditional meal?

8.30pm - He's whizzing around Africa

There are a lot Christmas celebrations across the countries in Africa. It's common to roast a goat in East Africa, while the South Africans often enjoy a roast turkey.

Meanwhile in Liberia rice and beef are common.

7.30pm - He's hit Europe (briefly...)

Santa is in Romania as start he starts delivering presents around Europe.

As the afternoon comes to an end in the UK Santa is delivering presents in Indonesia (
Image:
Google)

3:30pm - Indonesia

As we head to 3:30pm UK time Santa is making his way to Indonesia.

Christmas, or Natal (the Portuguese for Christmas), is celebrated in Indonesia and some customs include making road decorations from coconut leaves.

Santa is due for some amazing views on this leg of his journey (
Image:
Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In Bali a Christmas tree is made from chicken feathers.

3:00pm - China

Father Christmas is now making some stops in China. Kids in China call Santa "Old Christmas Man" and although only 1 per cent of people in the country are Christians postmen often dress up in Santa outfits.

2:30pm - A visit to Korea

Santa is just about to appear in the sky above South Korea.

Around 25-35 per cent of people in South Korea identify as Christians and they decorate their homes in much the same way as any other Christmas lover.

Santa is off to a flying start!

South Korea also recognises Christmas as a public holiday with the day off work for most people.

Koreans tend to just give one present though, so Santa might have an easier job in this country.

2:15pm - Santa stops in Japan

We emailed NORAD to find out where Santa is, we got a message back quickly saying "Santa is currently in Sapporo Japan and headed for Tokyo Japan."

Because there are not a lot of Christians in Japan the country celebrates the holiday in a slightly different way. Presents are given and cards are sent but a lot of the fun happens on Christmas Eve.

It's also seen as a romantic time for couples, much like Valentines Day.

It's traditional to eat fried chicken in Japan at Christmas, something KFC's marketing department dreamed up in the late 70s - perhaps Santa will enjoy some on his route.

It's a Christmas tradition in Japan to eat fried chicken!

 

1pm Santa visits Australia

According to NORAD Santa is just appearing in the skies over Australia.

Christmas south of the equator is very different for a lot of reasons. For one thing, there's unlikely to be snow in the middle of the southern hemisphere's summer season.

Santa will probably have a special outfit ready, as temperatures can reach 30 degrees Celsius on Christmas day.

Traditional Australian Christmas for Santa (
Image:
Rex)

In Australia the Christmas Tree is actually a bush with leaves that turn red in time for Santa's visit.

It's cheaper to send a Christmas card than it is to send a letter in Oz. Australia Post sells card-only stamps for $0.65, while a normal stamp costs $1.

In New Zealand he may not get a mince pie, but might be treated to a strawberry or kiwi pavlova. And he'll probably be treated to Maori Christmas carols too!

11am - NORAD reports activity at the North Pole

It's happening! NORAD has just tweeted that it can see activity at Santa's northern home.

Santa in the sky

As Santa prepares to start his journey NORAD reports that he's getting weather information from his elves. The Met Office in the UK says that tonight's weather will be foggy and cold.

There's a chance that anyone awake as Santa enters UK airspace could glimpse his sleigh and perhaps spot that famous red-nosed reindeer.

How fast does Santa travel?

With a total route of more than 300,000,000 miles Santa needs to move quickly. NORAD estimates he's moving at 1,800 miles per second.

Santa on Christmas eve (
Image:
Getty)

How many houses does Santa visit?

Santa needs to hit 390,000 homes per minute to hit his target. In total he's going to around 75 million houses over Christmas night. Thank goodness he's been getting years of practice.

How do I find out where Santa is?

Well, if you fancy making an international call then the NORAD hotline is 00-1-719-556-5211.

You can track him online using the official NORAD Tracks Santa website.

Norad's Santa Tracker (
Image:
NORAD)

You can also email noradtrackssanta@outlook.com to find out where the big man is currently.

There are also apps for both Android and iOS that will help you keep tabs on Santa.

What is NORAD?

NORAD is the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the organisation responsible for monitoring Canadian and US airspace.

Although mostly intended to detect threats to the US from air attacks NORAD is well-placed to keep an eye out for Santa and as such can reassure children that he is both on his way to their house, and being kept safe.

NORAD says that as long as Santa enters US airspace it has a responsibility to track his festive activities and those of every other aircraft over North America.

How did NORAD start tracking Santa?

Before NORAD existed its predecessor was called Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD). In 1955 a misprinted advert for a Santa hotline led to calls ending up being answered by Colonel Harry Shoup.

Michelle Obama talks to children calling the NORAD Santa phone line (
Image:
Pete Souza/White House)

Shoup ordered staff to give updates to callers about where Santa was and a tradition was born. These days even Presidents and First Ladies participate in the NORAD Santa phoneline.

Now NORAD has a team of volunteers to help answer phones and tell kids where Santa is. Each person can take as many as 40 calls per hour and in 2014 the agency took 100,000 calls.

The NORAD santa team also handle 12,000 emails during Santa's worldwide present-giving tour.

How does NORAD track Santa?

These days the system for tracking Santa's journey is pretty high tech. To monitor his initial take off NORAD uses its 47 radar installations across the north of America.

Once in the air NORAD switches to its satellite network for accurate positioning of Santa, his sleigh and eight special reindeer.

NORAD's satellite use infrared sensors to detect heat and according to the organisation Rudolph's red nose gives off enough heat for them to accurately track Santa and his sleigh.

Is NORAD affected by the US government shutdown?

The good news is that although many US government departments are closed NORAD continues its important Santa tracking work.

The agency said in a tweet "In the event of a government shutdown, NORAD will continue with its 63-year tradition of NORAD Tracks Santa on Dec. 24. Military personnel who conduct NORAD Tracks Santa are supported by approximately 1,500 volunteers who make the program possible each and every year".