Santa has officially set off - here's how you can track where he is

For us Brits, we're only hours into Christmas Eve, meaning Santa Claus isn't expected to land on our lawns for a few hours yet.

For our neighbours in the Far East and Down Under, however, the big man is already on the move, given that they're over 12 hours ahead.

Apparently, Father Christmas left the North Pole - the northernmost point on the Earth - several hours ago, heading directly downwards to New Zealand.

After ploughing through Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, he turned right, crossing over the Tasman Sea and heading straight to Australia.

He dropped his gifts off with East coast little ones in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane before sky-rocketing straight back up North to Japan.

And as of 9am BST, he's just wrapping up his journey through the Land of the Rising Sun, heading across the East China Sea to Taiwan, where he's likely to take on the remainder of South East Asia, Australia and China before heading up to Russia and taking on the rest of Europe.

He's already taken on New Zealand, Australia and Japan (Getty Stock Image)

Now, I bet you're wondering, 'How on Earth do you know all of this?'.

Well, as it turns out, there's a way to track the man in the big red suit as he and his reindeers - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and, of course, Rudolph - plough their way around the world.

Ever heard of Flight Radar?

For those unfamiliar with this online enigma, Flight Radar is the global flight tracking site that keeps on top of the whereabouts of jets in terms of their placement in the air at any given moment.

It also illustrates the business of the world's skies, showing areas where air traffic is more clustered and where sky pathways are more open, and sometimes, they coincidentally create some sort of recognisable shape or picture, going viral.

Santa's route so far (Flight Radar)

He'll be making his way to Europe in the next few hours (Flight Radar)

This week, however, it's not holiday-makers that festive celebrants are tracking as they fly through the skies, but Santa Claus.

So, if your little ones have been pestering you all day, wondering when exactly he'll be rocking up with their gifts, just show them this and tell them, 'He's officially on his way!'.

Remember to remind them, however, that he sees them when they're sleeping and knows when they're awake, so it's vital to get some shut-eye when the nighttime rolls around - and to leave a mince pie and a sherry out.

Wink-wink!

You can track Santa yourself here.