Winter Comes to Syria

This message writes itself.

I can add nothing more.

"We're burning shoes to keep warm" – Syrian refugee in Lebanon's freezing Bekaa valley http://t.co/Z5XmNxgyJF
— BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) December 12, 2013

Almost 2.3 million Syrians have fled into neighbouring countries

The BBC's Jim Muir in the Bekaa Valley met one family who were feeding their fire with old shoes because they could not afford firewood, despite their children being barefoot.

There are similar scenes across the region as hundreds of thousands of refugees improvise desperately to stay alive, our correspondent adds.

Forecasters are predicting between 7.6cm and 13cm of snow in total.

Situation in Arsal, on the edge of the Bekaa Valley is perilous. Twenty thousand plus Syrians came across the border this last fortnight.

— Vijay Prashad (@vijayprashad) December 12, 2013