[2][5] Beginning December 11, a large anticyclone moved northward in the jet stream over Europe; its east edge drew a strong current of cold air south from the Arctic.

This polar outbreak overspread Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean region, pushing below moist air associated with a passing front, causing heavy snow and sleet over higher ground in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel.

The Gaza Strip was lashed by torrential rain for a third day, with the local Hamas-run administration announcing that residents had been evacuated from 60 flooded homes since storms hit the coastal territory on December 11.

It was reported that the Lebanese Army was called in to help distribute emergency aid to refugees, and the UN handed out fuel, blankets, heaters and food rations amid a third day of severe winter weather in the region.

The UN airlift of urgently needed food for tens of thousands of people in northeastern Syria, originally planned for December 12, was delayed by snow.

[11] According to Matthew Hollingworth, Syria Country Director for the United Nations' World Food Programme, most internally displaced Syrians fled their homes with few belongings so they do not even have enough warm clothes or blankets to fend off the freezing weather.

"[11] Reportedly, a child and a baby died from the cold on December 12, and an activist in a besieged rebel-held town of Harra said residents were struggling to stay warm with the electricity cut off and no food or fuel allowed in.