Refugee crisis: Extreme cold raises risk of hypothermia and pneumonia for thousands in Macedonia and Serbia

Save the Children says 'children are arriving with blue lips, distressed and shaking from the cold' at a reception centre in Presevo

A refugee mother and her child brave temperatures as low as minus 20C after crossing into Serbia from Macedonia (Reuters)

Thousands of refugees in Macedonia and Serbia are at risk of hypothermia and pneumonia as temperatures are set to plunge as low as -20C on Tuesday, Save the Children has warned.

At a border reception centre in Presevo, Serbia, six inches of snow covers the ground, “and children are arriving with blue lips, distressed and shaking from the cold,” as well as with high fevers and respiratory problems that are the early signs of hypothermia, the organisation said.

Around a thousand refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq are still making the crossing every day, it said.

The Greek President has accused Turkey of not doing enough to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Europe and accused Turkish port officials of helping people smugglers.

“I greatly fear that Turkish people smugglers are getting support from the authorities,” Prokopis Pavlopoulos said.

A senior Turkish official strongly denied the allegations, saying Ankara was determinedly fighting the flight of refugees.

Reuters