Father Christmas is currently being tracked by America's air defence body as he approaches the North-East and North Yorkshire.

North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) is keeping tabs on his progress for the 55th year as he moves westward around the globe.

They are using four high-tech systems to track Santa – radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets.

Tracking Santa starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System.

This powerful radar system consists of 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. On December 24th, NORAD monitors the radar systems continuously for indications he has left the North Pole.

The moment NORAD radar indicates Santa has lifted off, it switches to satellites orbiting 22,300 miles above the Earth’s surface.

These are equipped with infrared sensors which allow them to detect heat coming from Rudolph’s bright red nose.

The third tracking system is the Santa Cam network which capture images and videos of Santa and his reindeer.

The fourth system is made up of fighter jets. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots flying the CF-18 intercept and welcome Santa to North America.

In the United States, American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or the F-16 flyvalongside Santa and his famous reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and, of course, Rudolph.

The information is on Twitter, Facebook and mobile phones as well as the traditional phone line and website.

Last year, the Santa Tracks NORAD website had more than 13 million unique visitors and the phone line got more than 74,000 calls.

This year, Santa Tracks NORAD has nearly 450,000 "likes" on Facebook and nearly 28,000 followers on Twitter.

It takes four months of planning and 1,200 volunteers to stage the event at NORAD headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.