The humanitarian situation in Syria is worsening as winter approaches, a senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned.

"The humanitarian situation in Syria is catastrophic and deteriorating day by day. The people are facing a bitter winter ahead and they have very few resources,” the Director for the Near and Middle East at the ICRC, Robert Mardini, said in a news release on Thursday.

“We need better access so that aid can be brought to the most vulnerable. The situation is nothing short of critical for many, many people," Mardini added.

The ICRC said that it has started distributing winter clothes for 300,000 children between the ages of six months and nine years in the war-torn country. Work has been done to improve the living conditions of dozens of collective-shelters and other places where displaced people are being hosted.

More than 12 million Syrians, including 5.5 million children, are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance, according to ICRC estimates.  More than four million people have fled abroad and around eight million are displaced within the country. Nearly five years of conflict have left much of the country's infrastructure destroyed or severely damaged. 

"Many of the refugees in neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon live in terrible conditions and are struggling to find warmth as temperatures fall. And they live with the uncertainty of not knowing what tomorrow will bring or even if they will ever make it back home one day," said Mardini.