Santa started his journey across Australia nice and early this year to avoid the thunderstorms that are starting to build up in the country’s east and southeast this afternoon.

If you check the radar on the Weatherzone website, you will see Santa and his reindeer flying across Australia. You will also notice plenty of rain and storms developing over some eastern and southeastern parts of the country.

Video: Santa and his reindeer spotted on the Weatherzone radar on Sunday.

While large areas of central, southern and western Australia are clear this Christmas Eve, showers and storms are developing over the east due to a low pressure trough being fed by moisture-laden air. A cut-off upper-level low is also adding some instability to the atmosphere, which will cause rain and storms to become more widespread over eastern and southeastern Australia during the rest of Christmas Even and on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

As we pointed out earlier this week, this volatile weather pattern has the potential to cause severe thunderstorms in parts of eastern Australia today and tomorrow.

While Santa and his reindeer know how to navigate all types of weather, even supercell thunderstorms, everyone else should keep a close eye on the latest severe thunderstorm warnings for the most up-ot-date information as storms develop over the next few days.