How to keep track of Santa over Christmas

  • 24/12/2017
How to keep track of Santa over Christmas
Photo credit: Getty

Santa will soon be making his way from the North Pole, delivering presents on to those who have been good this year. 

You can keep track of him and his reindeers through a range of tracking websites, which go live on Christmas Eve, and offer games and countdowns in the lead-up to the special night.

Weatherwatch.co.nz

Local weather forecaster Weatherwatch.co.nz has a Santa tracker on its free app and website. It'll go live from 1pm on Christmas Eve, with hourly updates until 11pm.

The tracker includes satellite weather maps of the North Pole, the Pacific and New Zealand, so Santa knows whether he needs to wear a raincoat or a singlet.

Google's Santa tracker

Google's Santa tracker has an advent calendar that unveils a new game or learning activity each day in the lead up to Christmas Eve.

It even has a game that teaches children basic coding skills.

When the Santa tracker goes live, users can follow the jolly fat guy using Google Maps. 

Google's Santa tracker is also available in app form for Android.

NORAD Santa tracker

NORAD has a feature that allows users to explore the North Pole, and on Christmas Eve, it will offer Santa's exact GPS location throughout the night.

There are games, movies and music available on its website, and the free app is available on Apple and Android phones.

NORAD's Santa-tracking operation has a special history - it began by accident in 1955, when the airspace organisation's phone number was accidentally used in an advert for children to phone Father Christmas.

They decided to go along with it and have been running their Santa tracking operation ever since.

Santa updates from the North Pole Newsroom

The North Pole Newsroom at ispotsanta.com posts regular updates and breaking news about events in the North Pole, as Santa and his elves rush to get Christmas presents ready for delivery.

They'll also post frequent weather updates that could affect Santa's flight path and bed-time warnings, once the delivery kicks off.

The website will also track the flight on trackingsanta.net, which will contain detailed flight data about the sleigh, reindeer and the weather.

Newshub.