The countdown to Christmas is on and Santa’s preparations are in full swing. Elves have helped load the last gifts onto Santa's sleigh at the North Pole, and he's almost ready to embark on his epic trip across the world.
If you’ve ever wanted to follow Santa’s journey live or know exactly when he’s due to fly over Ireland, modern technology has made it possible.
Families can use NASA’s North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Google's Santa trackers to watch Santa's sleigh live.
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Every day of the year, NORAD tracks everything that flies in and around Canada and the United States. But on Christmas Eve they are tasked with the special mission of also tracking Santa on his journey around the world.
Their dedicated NORAD tracks Santa website launches ay 9am Irish time on Christmas Eve allowing people to watch Santa’s journey across the globe in real time.
Every year the website receives nearly nine million unique visitors from over 200 countries.
There will also be 1,500 volunteers responding to emails and answering questions about Santa’s exact whereabouts.
After NORAD’s success, Google launched its own tracker called Keyhole Santa Radar.
It uses predetermined location information and therefore differs from NORAD’s route.
The website also features games and educational resources for children and their families.
Santa sets off on his long journey on Christmas Eve and visits 390,000 homes per minute.
His journey typically starts in the South Pacific, first going to the Republic of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. Then he travels West, delivering presents to those in New Zealand and Australia, followed by Japan.
After this he carries on across Asia, Africa and Western Europe, finishing off with Canada, the US, Mexico and South America.
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