Winter under canvas: Storm hits Syrian refugees

  • 12 December 2013

Syrian refugees living in makeshift accommodation in Lebanon try to cope as a winter storm brings snow to the country.

  • Syrian refugees play with snow during a winter storm in Zahle town, in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon (11 December 2013)

    Refugees from the fighting in Syria are enduring the first onslaught of winter weather, as a storm dubbed Alexa has brought heavy rain, snow and plummeting temperatures to Lebanon.

  • Syrian refugees run for cover from snow during a winter storm in Zahle town, in the Bekaa Valley December 11, 2013

    These rudimentary shelters in Zahle town, in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, are home to more than 1,000 Syrians. There are more than 800,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon as a whole.

  • A Syrian refugee shovels snow outside her tent in the makeshift refugee camp of Terbol near the Bekaa Valley town of Zahleh in eastern Lebanon on December 11, 2013

    More than two million people have fled the fighting in Syria; millions more are displaced within the country.

  • A man carrying a child runs for cover from the snow during a winter storm in Zahle town, in the Bekaa Valley December 11, 2013

    The storm marks the beginning of the third winter since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.

  • Syrian refugees cover their tent with a tarp as a heavy snowstorm batters the region, in a camp for Syrians who fled their country’s civil war, in the Bekaa valley, eastern Lebanon, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013

    Refugees are doing their best to protect their families from the effects of the storm.

  • A Syrian refugee tries to move a washing machine outside her tent to protect it from snowfall at a makeshift camp in Terbol near the Bekaa Valley town of Zahleh in eastern Lebanon on December 11, 2013

    Keeping possessions safe and dry is a challenge when living under canvas.

  • A Syrian refugee boy walks in a muddy alley at a makeshift camp in the village of Kfarkahel, in the Kura district near the northern city of Tripoli, on December 11, 2013

    Heavy rains have affected other parts of Lebanon, which are also providing a temporary home to Syrian refugees.

  • A Syrian refugee family use firewood to stay warm during rainfall in a refugee camp in the village of Ketermaya, southeast of Beirut, on December 11, 2013.

    Conditions inside the refugees' tents are little more than basic.