NORAD Santa Tracker 2025: Watch Father Christmas and his reindeers race across world to deliver gifts – live updates
Updated:
Father Christmas and his reindeers have left the North Pole as they embark on an epic round-the-world mission to deliver presents to children across the globe.
Anyone wanting to keep tabs on St Nick’s sleigh or wondering when to leave out the mince pies and carrot can keep on top of his movements with the annual NORAD Santa Tracker.
NORAD, otherwise known as North American Aerospace Defense Command, has tracked Santa for the past 70 years using advanced radar and satellite technology.
Families can visit the official NORAD Tracks Santa website or use dedicated apps to follow his journey in real-time.
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Watch our NORAD Santa Tracker 2025 stream and follow live updates below
Do you say SANTA or FATHER CHRISTMAS?
According to English Heritage, ‘Father Christmas’ began as a strictly allegorical figure – often depicted as a merry old man, with mentions going back as early as the 15th century.
Long before the symbol emerged in England, the separate legend of Sinterklaas was gaining ground in Europe – with its origin found in the stories of St Nicholas.
And then North America turned it into ‘Santa Claus’.
My vote goes to Father Christmas but have your say in the comments below.
Santa spotted over Fiji
Here’s the latest: Santa has just left Fiji and is headed for the volcanic island nation of Vanuata.
It’s quite exhilarating, isn’t it.
Has Santa ever crashed his sleigh?
According to NORAD, Santa has been flying for centuries without incident.
In 1927, Santa even received an official airplane pilot’s license from the US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, William P. MacCracken owing to his competency above the skies.
What do we know about Santa’s sleigh?
NORAD contains some technical data about the sleigh used by Santa to pull off his epic feat every year.
According to that data, here’s what we know about the sleigh:
Length: 75 cc (candy canes) / 150 lp (lollipops)
Width: 40 cc / 80 lp
Height: 55 cc / 110 lp
Designer: Kris Kringle & Elves
Probable First Flight: December 24, 343 AD
Weight at takeoff: 75,000 gd (gumdrops)
Passenger weight at takeoff: Santa Claus – 260lbs
Weight of gifts at takeoff: 60,000 tons
Weight at landing: 80,000 gd
Santa REACHES New Zealand
One man. Nine reindeer. And so far almost 300million presents delivered.
What’s more, Santa has now reached New Zealand.
Tell your friends, tell your family.
The year 2022: A dark year for the Santa tracker
The year 2022 was a dark one, as far as the Santa tracker is concerned.
Carnage unfolded as the entire system momentarily went down.
It was never quite clear why the Santa tracker crashed. It could have been due to the amount of people trying to use the site, or related to the ferocious storm which hit the US overnight.
Blizzard conditions were seen across much of the country on that dark day, causing power outages, crashes and long delays to travel.
As the Norad tracker relies on US satellites, there’s a chance damage to communications lines on US soil may have delayed engineers desperately working to reconnect Father Christmas with his fans.
But anyway, after a few minutes … everything returned to normal.
As Keir Starmer vows to ‘stop the boats’ – will Santa make it to Britain?
Amid Keir Starmer’s vows to ‘stop the boats’, will Santa actually make it to Britain?
The odds say yes – as the Prime Minister’s plans have so far remained in tatters.
The latest Home Office figures showed some 803 people made the dangerous journey across the English Channel in 13 dinghies from northern France, starting overnight on Friday and into Saturday.
The total number of Channel crossings for 2025 now stands at 41,455 people. The annual record stands at 45,755, recorded at the end of 2022.
And it looks like those arriving by sleigh will only have more joy…
When will Santa arrive at your house?
While NORAD tracks Santa, only the man himself knows his route which means experts are unable to predict what time he will visit your home on Christmas Eve.
However, NORAD notes it appears Santa arrives only when children are asleep with most of his drop-ins taking place between 9pm and midnight.
If children are awake when he does arrive, he may move on to other houses, only returning when they are asleep.
Santa reaches RUSSIA
Santa has now reached Russia. He was last spotted in Anadyr.
There have been good flying conditions so far with no weather or travel delays, so it’s so far, so good.
The number of gifts delivered is rising … and rising …
At the time of posting, Santa has already delivered over 30million gifts.
He was last spotted in the North Pole, which is understandable given he’s only just left…
Breaking:SANTA LEAVES HIS GROTTO
Santa has TAKEN OFF.
This is not a drill.
DAILY MAIL GETS IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
Down at the Daily Mail office reporters are already getting in the festive spirit…
We’ll leave you with this gem while we wait for Santa to get a move on.
Our journalists are working hard to deliver you the latest news from Britain and all the world over this Christmas Eve.
What do you think of their MOVES
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