NORAD Santa tracker 2023 LIVE - where Father Christmas is now and when he'll be in UK

Christmas Day is nearly here after months of preparation and build-up. Hopefully, the tree is up, the fridge stocked up with food and drink and the mince pies are being eaten.

With one sleep to go kids are starting to get excited that Santa will be visiting to drop off his presents. However, he has quite a few houses to get to in one night as he makes his journey across the globe.

To help build up anticipation you and the family can track Santa's progress as he flies around the world on his sleigh.

READ MORE: The latest news from the Manchester Evening News

JOIN: The FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community

This is thanks to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), who each Christmas, use their multi-billion dollar satellites and high-tech tracking equipment to follow Father Christmas' journey. They're not alone, either. Google, with their eagle eye on the world's internet, also have their own Santa tracker.

NORAD's predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), began tracking Santa in 1955. NORAD replaced CONAD in 1958 and took over the mission of tracking Santa's flight around the world, and they have been tracking Santa every year since

Traditionally, Santa starts his journey out in the Pacific Ocean early on Christmas Eve (UK time) and travels west. After visiting the islands around the South Pacific he then delivers presents to the children of New Zealand and Australia.

After that you can follow him on the tracker as he travels to Japan, over to the rest of Asia, across to Africa, then onto Western Europe, Canada, the United States, Mexico and Central and South America.

While we can't give the exact time he'll be flying over Greater Manchester - after all only Santa knows the