HE’S made a list and he checked it twice - he KNOWS if you’ve been naughty and nice.

With take off time for the man in the big red suit just hours away and children(and some adults!) eagerly awaiting his arrival tomorrow morning, the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) is making the wait a little easier with its annual Santa Tracker.

Each Christmas, the organisation uses its North Warning System radar system and early warning satellites to track Father Christmas and his reindeer as they bring joy to children who celebrate Christmas worldwide. 

The minute Santa launches on his sleigh pulled by his eight famous reindeer (plus Rudolph), NORAD begins tracking his progress. This will continue over the next 24 hours as he makes his way around the world.

Today's (Christmas Eve) take off time is predicted to be 9am - and can be viewed at https://www.noradsanta.org/en

It’s a tradition that NORAD, and it’s predecessor the Continental Air Defence Command (CONAD) have been doing for over 65 years.

The modern tradition of tracking Santa began in 1955 when a young child accidentally dialled the unlisted phone number of the CONAD Operations Centre are seeing an newspaper advertisement telling youngsters to call Santa.

The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, answered the phone and instructed his staff to check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole.

Thus a tradition was born, and continued when NORAD was formed in 1958. Each year since, NORAD has dutifully reported Santa’s location on December 24 to millions of children and families across the globe.