Santa tracker 2023: The best ways to see where Santa Claus is this Christmas

Kiwis can track Santa and his reindeer this Christmas while they wait for his arrival.
Kiwis can track Santa and his reindeer this Christmas while they wait for his arrival. Photo credit: Getty Images

After a year of working hard with his elves in the North Pole to gather presents for all the children, Santa has kicked off his annual trek around the globe.

With just a single night to get to everyone's homes, the big man in red and his faithful reindeer move at lightning speed.

So if you haven't already, be sure to leave out that plate of cookies and glass of milk - because the arrival of Father Christmas won't be far away.

Here's how you can track where he is:

NORAD

The North American Aerospace Defence Command uses a radar called the North Warning system with 47 installations across the north of Canada and Alaska. The radar is continuously checking to see if Santa has left his home and lets us know when he has lifted off.

A combination of satellites and jet fighters then track his movements around the world.

Google

As we await the big day, Google has a load of interactive games and activities to keep keen Santa-watchers busy - from Elf Jetpack to Snowball Storm, it can be a lot of fun.

The kids can get excited for the countdown as they watch the colorful and playful animations.

SantaUpdate

Dubbing itself as the "original Santa tracker online", SantaUpdate allows you to see a test flight just to make sure everything is working for December 25.

The team has also written several fun 'news' releases with headlines like 'Santa Hitches Reindeer to the Sleigh'.

ReindeerCam

This isn't technically a Santa tracker, but boasts to be a live video feed of "Santa's official reindeer". All going well, when the reindeer disappear, it should mean they are out hauling Saint Nick around.

SantaTrackerApp

Described as having the "cutest setup" of any tracker and being "simple" for kids, the Santa Tracker mobile application shows where Santa Claus is and what he is up to.

It also provides a rough estimate of how long it'll be until the big man in red arrives at your house.

Weather Watch

From 6:30pm on Christmas Eve, WeatherWatch's live radar navigation system will track Santa's progress around the world.

Santa and his reindeer have left the North Pole and have now crossed over the equator - meaning they are over the Southern Hemisphere.