Harsh winter conditions, combined with a surge of fighting in north-west Syria in recent months, have put child refugees at risk of life-threatening illness, an aid group is warning.

Flooding in refugee camps in north-west Syria have made for horrible conditions for the youngest inhabitants. Credit:World Vision

New refugees in north-west Syria's overflowing camps are living in open fields or in improvised shelters as winter in the northern hemisphere settles in.

Flooding, damp conditions and insufficient shelter for children raises the risk of pneumonia and tuberculosis, according to World Vision Australia.

"With hundreds of thousands of new people displaced, the camps are at breaking point and there is an urgent shortage of tents, blankets and heating fuel," said World Vision’s Syria Response director Johan Mooij in a statement.