Brutal winter weather is making dire conditions even more so in parts of the Middle East, especially for thousands of Syrian refugees enduring frigid temperatures in tents. The coldest air of the season was moving in behind a heavy snowstorm that blanketed refugee camps in Turkey and Lebanon.

In Syria, residents in cities pummeled by warfare were taking drastic measures to stay alive. A video posted online shows three men and two children burning pages of schoolbooks to stay warm in the besieged city of Rastan. "We can't use the heaters inside our residences," one of the men says. "No fuel, no wood, no electricity."

In the Syrian city of Busra, a video shows a man gathering snow in a bucket to save as drinking water. "We don't have water, we don't have heat," the man says. "We will try to make the snow into water because they cut off the water long ago."

Winds have been strong, in some cases blowing more than 70 kph (43 mph), which makes the wind chill much colder than the air temperature.