ABU DHABI: Saudi Arabia will send aid worth $10 million to help Syrian refugees in Jordan, where severe winter weather has compounded their misery, the state news agency SPA reported on Friday.

The first shipment of supplies, including blankets, covers and mattresses, has already been despatched, the agency said.

In Jordan's Zaatari camp, housing at least 30,000 Syrian refugees, torrential rain has flooded several hundred tents and forced people to scramble for shelter in prefabricated caravans.

The unusual chill, accompanied by driving snow and rain, has claimed at least 17 lives in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The frigid weather, some of the worst in the region in years, has raised concern for 600,000 Syrian refugees, displaced people within Syria and civilians, especially those in rebel-held areas where fuel and food are growing scarce.

Opposition activists say dozens of people have died in Syria in the last four days due to the weather. UNICEF said on Friday more than two million displaced and refugee children were at risk because the conditions hampered access to basic services.