NORAD Santa tracker 2023 LIVE — Father Christmas completes his journey as he delivers 7.8 billion presents worldwide

How many presents did Santa deliver?

Santa Claus delivered a staggering 7.88 billion presents this year, according to Norad.

That's more than 200 million than he did last year!

He officially concluded his rounds just before 11am this morning UK time.

Google’s Christmas games

While Santa is soaring above us delivering presents, why not try some of Google’s Christmas-themed games?

There is a range to choose from, including:

• Out Like A Light
• Yule Log
• Penguin Proof
• Santa Selfie
• Elf Maker
• Code Lab
• Railroad Ride
• Gumball Tilt
• Ollie Under The Sea
• Present Bounce
• Snowball Storm
• Build & Bolt
• Holiday Traditions
• Present Drop
• Translations
• Quick Draw
• Santa’s Canvas
• Snowbox
• Santa Search
• Elf Jetpack
• Penguin Dash
• Elf Ski
• Rudolph Racer
• Season of Giving
• Code Boogie
• Wrap Battle
• Elf Jamband
• Map Quiz
• Reindeer Runner
• Elf Glider

Christmas Mass in Vatican City

As Santa drops off presents in Chile,  celebrates Christmas Mass in Vatican City.

Britain’s top 15 favourite Christmas songs revealed

Nothing beats a good Christmas jingle and every year Brits have dozens of beloved tunes to choose from.

According to research by , here are the country’s top 15 festive songs:

1. Last Christmas, Wham! and All I Want For Christmas Is You, Mariah Carey 
2. It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, Michael Buble
3. Santa Tell Me, Ariana Grande
4. Do They Know It’s Christmas, Band Aid and Mistletoe, Justin Bieber 
5. Merry Christmas Everyone, Shakin’ Stevens
6. Fairytale Of New York, Pogues Ft Kirsty Maccoll
7. Underneath The Tree, Kelly Clarkson
8. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree, Brenda Lee
9. Happy Xmas (War Is Over), John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band and Jingle Bell Rock, Bobby Helms
10. Holly Jolly Christmas, Michael Buble
11. One More Sleep, Leona Lewis and Wonderful Christmastime, Paul Mccartney
12. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Andy Williams
13. Lonely This Christmas, Mud
14. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, Wizzard
15. Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow, Dean Martin and Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord, Boney M

What are the names of Santa’s reindeer?

Santa originally had eight reindeer.

But in 1939 Rudolph came onto the scene to make nine.

The little reindeer helping Santa make his journey are called:

• Dasher
• Dancer
• Prancer
• Vixen
• Comet
• Cupid
• Donner
• Blitzen
• Rudolph

Where is Lapland?

Lapland is actually part of Finland and is not near the North Pole.

It is however close to the Arctic Circle.

Temperatures in Lapland can drop below -30˚ Celsius in the winter, although don’t worry about visiting Santa as temperatures are normally between -15 and 0˚C in winter.

As the North Pole is so inaccessible Santa sets up an official village in Rovaniemi, Lapland, known as “Santa’s official North Pole residence”.

The many names of Father Christmas

The big man in red goes by many names in many lands, but what do you call him?

Father Christmas –  Father Christmas, as he is known in the UK, was inspired to spread the magic of Christmas by St. Nikolas of Myra.

Santa Claus – The popular name for Father Christmas comes from the Dutch “Sinter Klaas”.

St Nicholas – We are, of course, talking about St Nick here.

Kris Kringle – This is an Americanised version of the Austrian Christkind, meaning Christ-child.

Santa's last leg

Santa is reaching the final stretch of his journey, with over 7.7 billion presents delivered so far.

Keep going Santa!

Iconic Christmas characters

Below are some legendary Christmas characters that get love during the holidays.

• Grinch
• Rudolph
• Frosty
• Heat Miser
• Snow Miser
• Buddy the Elf
• Jack Frost
• Jack Skellington

Just how fast does Santa fly?

Delivering over 7 billion presents in one day stretches to the laws of physics, to say the least.

But Santa does it nonetheless, spreading Christmas joy across the globe alongside his reindeer.

But just how fast does the Father Christmas fly?

Find out in our piece below:

Where is Santa now?

Santa is currently taking the long trip around Alaska in the United States.

With only a few stops left Father Christmas is almost done delivering presents around the globe.

How many Home Alone movies are there?

Up to this point, there are six Home Alone movies.

The first two and the fourth movie are part of a single narrative unit focusing on the main character of Kevin.

Whereas, the other three are standalone stories, although Disney’s Home Sweet Home Alone is somehow connected to the original trilogy.

Why we shouldn’t leave carrots out for the reindeer

The reindeer fly 316million miles in just 32 hours.

It is definitely a cool snack for them, but Santa has warned and issued against leaving carrots out for Rudolph and his squad.

This is because 81 percent of raw carrots can’t be digested by reindeer.

Instead, you could leave out cooked or baked rolled oats, cranberries, maple syrup, button mushrooms or flaxseed to help Rudolph’s nose glow.

Over seven billion presents delivered

Santa sure has been busy this year.

According to Norad, Father Christmas has delivered over seven billion presents across the globe.

And he's not done yet!

St Nick still has around half a billion presents left to deliver!

Call the Santa tracker

NORAD has a call center tracking Santa’s whereabouts available for anyone to find out where Santa and his reindeer are on their magical journey.

All you have to do is call 1-877-Hi-NORAD and ask where Santa is.

Christmas reaches Canada

Santa has arrived in Canada as he heads towards Yellowknife.

The big man in red is at the business end of his Christmas journey now, with only a few places left to visit before he and his reindeer hang up their boots for another year.

Iconic Christmas characters

Below are some legendary Christmas characters that get love during the holidays.

• Grinch
• Rudolph
• Frosty
• Heat Miser
• Snow Miser
• Buddy the Elf
• Jack Frost
• Jack Skellington

Where is Santa now?

Santa is well into his journey across the United States at the moment.

St Nick is heading for Nebraska after a brief jaunt in Colorado.

He has delivered a staggering 6.4billion presents and he isn't done yet.

Good luck Santa!

Why do we kiss under the mistletoe

Norse mythology may be where this common kissing custom originated.

The  reports that after the berry-filled plant saved the life of her son, Frigg, the goddess of love, vowed to kiss everybody who went beneath it.

However, it wasn’t until the 18th century that the Christmas tradition gained popularity in England.

Learn while you track Santa

When using the  website to see where Santa’s been, you can also click on the interactive map to learn about the different locations around the world!

If you click on the camera icons at specific locations on the map, a pop-up with a Wikipedia article about that location with show up.

You can read all about that specific location and learn about where Santa has visited!

Meet Santa’s reindeer

Santa originally had eight reindeer.

But in 1939, Rudolph came onto the scene to make nine.

The little reindeer helping Santa make his journey are called:

• Dasher
• Dancer
• Prancer
• Vixen
• Comet
• Cupid
• Donner
• Blitzen
• Rudolph

Santa heads to Belize

Santa Claus went South to Cancún, , and is now heading for Belize City, Belize.

The Santa tracker shows that over 6 billion presents have been delivered to kids across the world - Merry Christmas to all!

Other ways to track Old Saint Nick

Google also runs its own Santa Tracker.

Before it goes live, you can follow along with the countdown and enjoy some Christmas games on the website ahead of time .