It's Christmas Eve! And that means jolly old St. Nick has got the sleigh prepped, the reindeer ready and is currently off on his journey around the world to deliver presents to all the good boys and girls.
In times gone by, you'd have to watch carefully from the bedroom window in the hope you might catch a twinkle or two as the bearded sky wizard made his way across the globe. But the year is 2025, and technology has stepped in to help us follow along all day!
Thanks to Google and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), as well as Flightradar24, we now have three Santa trackers to keep us updated with Kris Kringle's movements — not to mention plenty of festive games and puzzles to play, too.
We'll be following along with the merriment here, and let me just take this opportunity to say everyone from Tom's Guide wishes you and your family a healthy, happy holiday and all the best for the new year.
History of the Santa Tracker
Of the two Santa trackers we're using today, the one from NORAD is probably the more established. It was actually NORAD's predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), that began tracking Santa all the way back in 1955.
When NORAD replaced CONAD in 1958, it took over the mission of tracking Santa's flight around the world. According to NORAD, the tradition of tracking Santa really took off when a Sears catalog printed the CONAD Center’s phone number instead of a Santa hotline, and the organization began to receive calls from children hopeful to speak to Claus himself.
Google followed suit much later in 2004 when the tech giant launched its own Santa tracker. Considering how impactful Google Maps has been on navigation for millions of users, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the app can be used to follow the big man on Christmas Eve.
How to track Santa on Christmas Eve
You can follow Santa's progress around the world from your laptop or your smartphone, either through your web browser or a dedicated app. If you want to access the trackers directly, here are the links to follow:
If you don't want to keep a browser window open all the time, you can also download the NORAD Santa Tracker app on iOS here and Android here.
While it's nice to watch Santa's progress on our phones and laptops, children can also pick up the phone and call NORAD's Santa Operations Center to find out his current location.
More than 1,000 Canadian and American uniformed personnel, War Department civilians and local participants will be present today at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where NORAD is located. They are volunteering their time on Christmas Eve to answer the hundreds of thousands of phone calls that come in from around the world.
The center is fully functional now, and children can call 877-446-6723 to talk directly to a Santa tracker, who will be able to tell callers his current location. Operators will be available until midnight.
LIVE — follow Santa's journey
Santa has started his journey!
Today is December 24, and that means millions of people will be tuning in to Santa trackers to find out where Santa is right now.
According to Google's Santa tracker, Santa Claus is over Russia right now and has already delivered over 45,000 gifts! You can visit the NORAD tracker here, but while the countdown has hit zero, it doesn't look like the tracker is up and running just yet. NORAD needs to get moving!
NORAD tracker is still waiting to get started
It looks like the NORAD Tracker still has yet to get started. All I can see right now is a placeholder image of Santa ready in his workshop — the toys are all wrapped but they still need to be loaded onto the sleigh!
We'll keep checking in and let you know as soon as NORAD's tracker is up and running. In the meantime, there are songs and Christmas facts available for you to enjoy while we wait.
Over 2.7 million presents delivered!
NORAD's tracker may not be running just yet, but according to Google ol' St. Nick is getting on with the job at hand! He's already delivered over 2.7 million gifts and is heading straight on towards Papua New Guinea right now!
Santa's sleigh — what you need to know
If you've ever wondered just how Santa manages to get all those presents delivered in one night, it comes down to the marvel of engineering that is his sleigh.
Thanks to the team at NORAD, we have some idea of just how Santa's sleigh works. For example, its probable first flight was on December 24, 343AD.
The typical weight of gifts at takeoff is about 60,000 tons which combines to make a total weight (including Santa) of 75,000gd (gumdrops). Thankfully, it's got a propulsion system of nine rp (reindeer power) fueled by hay, oats and carrots. Which is more than enough to deliver all the presents tonight!
Next stop, Fiji!
Checking back in on Santa's progress and he's made it over to Fiji!
One nice thing about using Google's Santa Tracker is that because the tech giant has mapped just about all of Earth at this point, you can see some nice pictures of the locations Santa stops at. I've never been to Fiji, but judging by the pictures, it sure looks like a nice place to spend a few days.
Sadly, Santa won't have time to take in the sights if he's going to keep to his busy schedule...
NORAD's Santa games
While we wait for NORAD's Santa tracker to kick into gear, it's worth exploring some of the other features available. For instance, there's a load of Santa-themed games to play right in your browser, including one called Snowy Road that reminds me of the SkiFree, the winter classic released back in 1991 for Windows 3.0.
NORAD Santa tracker is live!
The NORAD Santa tracker is up and running! We can see Santa making his way from the North Pole towards Russia to begin the start of his journey.
Unlike Google's cartoon tracker, NORAD opts for satellite imagery, so you can see Santa's progress across the globe.
He may be trailing behind Google's tracker but NORAD has Santa delivering presents at lightning speed — he's already way past 50 million gifts in the time it's taken me to write this!
The Tom's Guide holiday gift guide 2025
If you're leaving your Christmas shopping until the very last minute, then you may need some inspiration before you hit the shops today. Thankfully, my colleagues here at Tom's Guide have pulled together all the best gifts for friends and family this holiday season.
You can find our ultimate gift guide here, as well as this article on the best gifts for people that have everything.
Back to New Zealand after a stop in Antarctica
Back to Santa's progress — and according to Google, the big man is heading back up to Queenstown, New Zealand, after a brief stop down in Antarctica.
Antarctica?? Yes, according to Google, Santa visited McMurdo Station — the largest U.S. research station in Antarctica, says Wikipedia. I don't know how many children are posted their right now, but at least they'll have some presents to open tomorrow morning.
A look inside NORAD HQ
The NORAD tracker is up and running now, with the organization also posting updates to Twitter/X.com.
They've even included some festive pictures of the inside of NORAD HQ and how it's set up to follow Santa Clause around the globe.
The hangar is quiet for now—but not for long.NORAD teams are finishing final preparations as we get ready to track Santa’s journey around the world. Screens are coming online, systems are being checked, and everything is set for takeoff.Santa will be lifting off soon, and… pic.twitter.com/AJFFrXxzPqDecember 24, 2025
A THIRD Santa tracker to watch!
Up until now, I've been following Father Christmas through a combination of the NORAD tracker and Google's own Santa Tracker. But I've just discovered a third option.
Flightradar24 is a popular way to track live air traffic around the globe. And the current most-tracked aircraft on the site right now is a sleigh with the callsign: R3DN053. According to the site, this sleigh (registration: HOHOHO) is travelling at 60,000 feet with a ground speed of 4,943 kts.
There's a lot of other aircraft in the sky right now, so let's hope Rudolph's nose is shining bright enough that they can all see him coming...
How to call NORAD's Santa Operation Center
While it's nice to watch Santa's progress on our phones and laptops, you can actually pick up the phone and call NORAD's Santa Operations Center to find out his current location.
More than 1,000 Canadian and American uniformed personnel, War Department civilians and local participants will be present at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where NORAD is located today. They are volunteering their time on Christmas Eve to answer the hundreds of thousands of phone calls that come in from around the world.
The center will be fully functional today, and children can call 877-446-6723 to talk directly to a Santa tracker, who will be able to tell callers his current location. Operators will be available until midnight.
New Zealand with over 300,000,000 presents delivered
Checking back in with Santa Claus and, according to NORAD, he's busy making his way around New Zealand — with over 300 million gifts delivered already.
Google's tracker has Kris Kringle a little further ahead in his journey, having left New Zealand a little while back and tracking towards the Kuril Islands. This volcanic archipelago lies just to the north of Japan.
How fast is Santa actually going?
It's a pretty impressive feat to travel around the world in one night. If you're interested, I asked Google's Gemini AI assistant to give me some facts about just how fast Santa's sleigh is actually traveling today.
It told me that in order to visit every celebrating household in one night, physics estimates Santa’s sleigh travels at a mind-boggling 650 miles per second (about 1,050 kilometers per second).
That is roughly 3,000 times the speed of sound (Mach 3,000).
From Russia with Love
Santa is back in Russia, according to Google's Santa tracker and delivering presents to Birobidzhan before presumably either heading westwards into China or south down towards Sapporo in Japan.
The present delivery count stands at close to forty million at the time of writing. Although over on the NORAD tracker, he's closing in on 500 million. I guess Google's tracker has a slightly higher threshold when it comes to good behavior in 2025...
Just in case Santa forgets...
I'm pretty sure Father Christmas will make it around every house tonight (with time to spare) because, well, he's been doing this for a long time. But just in case he doesn't deliver everything you want, you can still rely on many hardworking delivery drivers to step in and help out.
We've rounded up the 25 best Amazon last-minute gifts under $50 that will still arrive on time for Christmas. So, just in case Santa forgets to bring you exactly what's on your list, you can still get something special this Christmas.
An incredible journey
Santa's reindeer are putting in a shift today, but there's still a lot of air left to cover! It goes to show just how vast countries like Russia, China and Australia are when you're trying to deliver presents to everyone...
Europe, where I live, must seem like easy street in comparison! Either way, I'm enjoying learning about all these far-off places that Santa stops at to make sure everyone has their presents under the tree (or in their stocking) on Christmas morning.
Many gifts have been successfully delivered!
Santa has already hit plenty of countries, and is now currently heading over to drop off gifts in Japan (it must've been a long way over the Philippine Sea). Just how many gifts? According to Google's Santa tracker, it now stands at over 300,000,000 presents. Geez, the elves must've been working hard this year. And there's even more to come!
Across Indonesia with over a billion presents delivered!
NORAD's Santa tracker currently puts St. Nick just north of Indonesia, with a present delivery count that's crossed over a billion gifts. Considering it's not even 9am in New York on Christmas Eve and there's roughly about 2.4 billion children on Earth at last count, I'd say he's well on top of his target.
Obviously, kids around the world are (hopefully) going to get more than just one present each — but even so, Santa's making extremely good progress so far!
The many names for Santa Claus
As we're seeing from this live blog, Santa travels all across the planet today, delivering presents to everyone regardless of where they live. But you may be interested to know the jolly old fat guy with a snow white beard has a lot of different names.
We may know him as Santa Claus or Father Christmas, but in France, for example, he's known as "Père Noël". Meanwhile, over in Russia, they call him "Ded Moroz" which translates directly to Grandfather Frost.
Here's a few other names for ol' St. Nick you may not be familiar with:
Country |
Name |
Meaning |
France |
Père Noël |
Father Christmas |
Russia |
Ded Moroz |
Grandfather Frost |
Finland |
Joulupukki |
Christmas Goat |
Netherlands |
Sinterklaas |
Saint Nicholas |
Costa Rica |
Colacho |
(Nickname for St. Nicholas) |
Japan |
Santa-san |
Mr. Santa |
I'm personally a big fan of the Finnish name. After all, anyone who can deliver the entire world's presents in one night truly is the Christmas GOAT.
The best movie to watch on Christmas Eve
Looking for a good movie to watch while you wait for Santa to make his deliveries? My colleague Martin (from the Tom's Guide streaming team) recommends Kate Winslet's tender holiday drama 'Goodbye June' as the perfect watch on December 24.
It's a poignant drama about a family on the brink of losing a loved one in the weeks running up to Christmas Day. And it serves up an alternative feel-good drama that's definitely worth a look.
You can stream "Goodbye June" on Netflix right now.
Next stop, Ulaanbaatar!
Let's check in with how Santa is getting on. According to Google's tracker, he's on his way to Ulaanbaaatar, the capital city of Mongolia.
The city is home to 1.6 million people and, apparently, is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. Don't worry though, considering Santa lives at the North Pole for the rest of the year, I don't think Mongolia's chilly capital will worry him too much!
If you're interested in visiting Mongolia for yourself, you'll need to work a little harder than Santa Claus. There are no direct flights to Ulaanbaatar from the United States — you'll have to get a connecting flight from Seoul in South Korea. And chances are the average airliner will take a bit longer to get there than Santa's sleigh!
Best animated Christmas movies to watch...
Everyone has a favorite Christmas movie, but what about animated Christmas movies? We've rounded up 6 of the best animated Christmas movies — along with where to stream them. Our list includes popular titles like The Grinch and The Nightmare Before Christmas alongside classics like Mickey's Christmas Carol, which debuted in 1983. It's not a movie per se, but I grew up watching 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974), which will forever be one of my personal favorites.
Give Santa some R&R this holiday...
Santa is going to be one tired cookie after today's haul. Fortunately, my colleague Nicola Appleton has created a list of the best luxury sleep gifts you can buy. A lot of these items won't deliver in time for Christmas, but one of my resolutions for 2026 is to try and get a better night's sleep. So if you're looking to pamper yourself after the holidays — shouldn't we all — you'll want to check out her list.
Santa now flying over Thailand...
The NORAD Santa tracker has Kris Kringle flying through Thailand right now with over 1.7 billion gifts delivered. As a predominantly Buddhist nation, Christmas isn't a major holiday in Thailand. However, the Christmas spirit can be found in major cities throughout the country with plenty of Christmas trees, images of Santa Claus, and Christmas music to get you into the spirit. Large companies with many foreign expats also tend to be lenient with their holiday breaks this time of year since many of their employees may celebrate Christmas. Next stop for Santa — Vietnam!
Last-minute digital gifts that arrive instantly...
It's Christmas Eve and if you need a last-minute present, I recommend the digital gift card. While some may think they're impersonal, gift cards are actually very practical gifts. They allow the recipient to pick the gift they want while removing the stress and anxiety of buying the wrong item. They're also on sale right now! Amazon is taking up to 20% off a wide variety of gift cards from Lyft, DoorDash, Nautica, and more. Check out our holiday gift cards roundup for the best deals that arrive instantly.
Tracking Santa on the big screen
You aren't limited to tracking Santa on your phone or your laptop. If you want to see where jolly old St. Nick currently is in real time on the big screen, there are plenty of live feeds on YouTube. That way, everyone can watch Santa's progress together on the couch as he delivers presents all around the world.
What time does Santa arrive in the States?
Santa typically arrives in the United States around 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve, according to the NORAD Santa tracker. He usually heads to Europe and Africa before making his way across the Atlantic Ocean to America. Once here, he visits Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and Central and South America. That said, Santa can be unpredictable. So if you wan to know his exact location, you'll want to take a peek at the NORAD map. If you're wondering where he is now, Santa is currently dashing through Madagascar.
Tracking Santa, there's an app for that
If you'd rather download an app so that your kids can track Santa on their own devices, you're in luck.
NORAD has a Santa Tracker app (iOS, Android) that's completely free and works just like the Santa Tracker on its website. However, it also has some extras to keep your little ones busy like Santa-themed games. I downloaded it myself and it works really well.
Santa's on his way to Finland
Santa is about to reach the Nordic nation of Finland which is known for being the happiest country in the world. He's heading straight to the capital of Helsinki which sits on over 300 islands and has more saunas than cars.
Since Helsinki is so far north, it has very short days in the winter and really long ones with almost 19 hours of daylight in the summer.
The fire is so delightful
Philip Michaels here, to help you charting Santa's progress for the next few hours. And one thing I like to do on Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day is to fire up my Apple TV, head over to YouTube and summon up on a video of a burning Yule log to play in the background of my holiday festivities.
The televised Yule log got its start as a way for city dwellers without fireplaces in their apartments to approximate the wintery fun of huddling around a roaring fire during the holidays. WPIX in New York started the tradition — you can find a two-hour loop of the original Yule log on YouTube — and it's since spread to other TV channels, streaming services and apps.
Personally, I prefer a Yule log video that has no incidental music — all the better to stream my own holiday tunes. I also like one that burns virtually as long as possible, so this 8-hour loop on YouTube should do the trick.
Santa in the stars?
Charting Santa's progress on a terrestrial map is one thing. But where is Santa in relation to the stars? Fire up Star Walk 2 and you'll be able to find out.
Around Christmas, the star-gazing app adds a feature where Santa can be see traveling around the night sky. Just move your phone around to see what celestial body he and his reindeer pals are crossing by at any particular moment.
Star Walk 2 is a free download for Android and iPhone.
A little holiday music
Look, you probably don't need me to point you to good Christmas Music playlists on Spotify or Apple Music or the streaming service of your choice. When it comes to holiday tunes, you like the things you like.
That said, at previous gigs I've written about holiday tunes, and this guide to my favorite overlooked Christmas songs remains relevant even a decade after I first wrote it. (I've also covered Christmas music mistakes because I'm a Grinch at heart.)
Achtung, (Santa) Baby
By the time you read this, Santa will have blown through Munich in Bavaria, according to the NORAD tracker, as he criss-crosses his way across Western Europe. That presents delivered counter is getting very close to 4 million, incidentally.
'The Santa Colonel'
We touched on the history of NORAD's Santa tracker, but if you have to call out one person in the origin story of this holiday tradition, it's Colonel Harry Shoup. He was stationed at the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) in Colorado when a well-meaning youngster dialed the wrong number asking to speak to Santa. Shoup fielded the call and started a tradition people still look forward to today.
The Department of Veteran Affairs website has a quick bio of the man who became known as the Santa Colonel, and there's more on the history of the tracker in this 2014 NPR story, including comments from Shoup's children.
And to all a goodnight
NORAD has Santa making his way through Africa, while Google's tracker places St. Nick in the heart of Switzerland — Christmas magic, folks! — and that's where I'll take my leave of you to engage in holiday festivities that don't include a web browser.
Thanks as always for reading Tom's Guide — merry Christmas and compliments of the season to everyone.
