He's made his list, he's checked it twice, he already knows who's been naughty and nice. That's right: Santa Claus is coming to town – and you can follow him as he makes his way around the world.
Every year, the boffins at Norad (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) kindly dedicate December 24th to tracking Father Christmas as he darts from chimney to chimney, country to country, and continent to continent, delivering gifts while voraciously consuming sweetmeats.
Their service began by happenstance in 1955, when a Sears ad in a local paper offering the chance to speak to Santa mistakenly printed the top secret phone number of Conad – Norad’s predecessor. US Air Force Col. Harry Shoup took the first call from a young boy wanting to talk to Santa in good humour, and so a Christmas tradition was born.
Now, every year, thousands of volunteers staff telephones and computers to answer calls and e-mails from children (and adults) around the world. As of 2007, search engine Google has also provided an online tracker, in partnership with Norad.
Join us below to follow Santa's snow-flecked footsteps around the world. And keep your fingers crossed that when he arrives at your house, he'll find your name on the good side of that list ...
IT'S Christmas Day now and that means one thing - you can track where Father Christmas has been on his journey delivering presents around the world.
Viewers can use the interactive map from NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) to keep up to speed with the big guy's progress this year.
NORAD Track Santa NORAD's annual Santa Claus tracker
On schedule for his midnight arrival in the UK, Santa had already checked in at Greece by around 8pm, was in Mozambique by 8.40pm, before stopping off at South Africa's Cape Town at 9pm.
Usually responsible for defending airspace, NORAD has been offering children and adults alike a way of keeping their eye on Santa's sleigh since 1955.
The tradition was allegedly started by accident, when a local advertisement inviting kids to call Santa Claus accidentally misprinted the number.
The number they called put them through to Norad's Commander-in-Chief's operations hotline.
Since 1955, NORAD has been helping children (and adults) keep an eye on Father Christmas' mammoth journey
Santa Claus will travel an estimated 510,000,000 kilometres around the globe tonight
Colonel Harry Shoup, who later became affectionately known as Santa Colonel, answered the first of these calls.
He gamely asked his staff to check if there was any indication of Father Christmas's movements on the radar.
A spokesman explained: "Indeed there were signs of Santa, and children who called in were given an update on Santa’s position.
"Thus, the tradition was born."
Reuters US President Donald Trump was amongst those fielding excited children's calls on NORAD's behalf
Reuters Trump was joined by First Lady Melania, also on hand to answer calls from kids in up to 200 countries
These days, NORAD is able to provide users with an exact GPS location of Santa's position online, and is also available on the Apple, Android and Windows app stores.
But over 70,000 children from 200 countries will still phone the hotline for a personal update on Santa's whereabouts.
They may even get to speak to President Donald Trump, or First Lady Melania, who are scheduled to field calls alongside more than 1,500 volunteers.
The team say they use infrared radar, defence satellites and other surveillance equipment to follow him through the skies.
Many children across the globe still phone the NORAD call centre looking for a personal update on Santa's location
MOST READ IN NEWS ICELAND ANGER Disabled woman in tears after Iceland left her without turkey and Xmas treats MARKLE SPARKLES Meghan Markle joins Harry, Wills and Kate for Sandringham Xmas Day service C**PPY CHRISTMAS Husband buys wife paracetemol, de-icer and marigolds every Xmas for 15yrs THE PINT BEFORE XMAS Christmas Eve partygoers get merry, collapse and throw up in street 'I DO!' US tourist hijacks live Sky TV interview at Sandringham to propose to girlfriend XMAS HELL Brit weeps in Egypt court as she admits having drugs and could face death penalty
Over the course of the night, Father Christmas will travel an estimated 510,000,000 kilometres - roughly 1,800 miles per second.
The big guy has just the western coast of the Americas and the Pacific Islands to do before this year's work is done.
IT'S Christmas Day now and that means one thing - you can track where Father Christmas has been on his journey delivering presents around the world.
Viewers can use the interactive map from NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) to keep up to speed with the big guy's progress this year.
NORAD Track Santa NORAD's annual Santa Claus tracker
On schedule for his midnight arrival in the UK, Santa had already checked in at Greece by around 8pm, was in Mozambique by 8.40pm, before stopping off at South Africa's Cape Town at 9pm.
Usually responsible for defending airspace, NORAD has been offering children and adults alike a way of keeping their eye on Santa's sleigh since 1955.
The tradition was allegedly started by accident, when a local advertisement inviting kids to call Santa Claus accidentally misprinted the number.
The number they called put them through to Norad's Commander-in-Chief's operations hotline.
Since 1955, NORAD has been helping children (and adults) keep an eye on Father Christmas' mammoth journey
Santa Claus will travel an estimated 510,000,000 kilometres around the globe tonight
Colonel Harry Shoup, who later became affectionately known as Santa Colonel, answered the first of these calls.
He gamely asked his staff to check if there was any indication of Father Christmas's movements on the radar.
A spokesman explained: "Indeed there were signs of Santa, and children who called in were given an update on Santa’s position.
"Thus, the tradition was born."
Reuters US President Donald Trump was amongst those fielding excited children's calls on NORAD's behalf
Reuters Trump was joined by First Lady Melania, also on hand to answer calls from kids in up to 200 countries
These days, NORAD is able to provide users with an exact GPS location of Santa's position online, and is also available on the Apple, Android and Windows app stores.
But over 70,000 children from 200 countries will still phone the hotline for a personal update on Santa's whereabouts.
They may even get to speak to President Donald Trump, or First Lady Melania, who are scheduled to field calls alongside more than 1,500 volunteers.
The team say they use infrared radar, defence satellites and other surveillance equipment to follow him through the skies.
Many children across the globe still phone the NORAD call centre looking for a personal update on Santa's location
MOST READ IN NEWS ICELAND ANGER Disabled woman in tears after Iceland left her without turkey and Xmas treats MARKLE SPARKLES Meghan Markle joins Harry, Wills and Kate for Sandringham Xmas Day service C**PPY CHRISTMAS Husband buys wife paracetemol, de-icer and marigolds every Xmas for 15yrs THE PINT BEFORE XMAS Christmas Eve partygoers get merry, collapse and throw up in street 'I DO!' US tourist hijacks live Sky TV interview at Sandringham to propose to girlfriend XMAS HELL Brit weeps in Egypt court as she admits having drugs and could face death penalty
Over the course of the night, Father Christmas will travel an estimated 510,000,000 kilometres - roughly 1,800 miles per second.
The big guy has just the western coast of the Americas and the Pacific Islands to do before this year's work is done.
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We're tracking the big man himself with NORAD! At 1 p.m., Santa was headed for Dubai, and more than 2,090,000,000 gifts had been delivered!
