"Rain and snowfall have compounded our misery and it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep our shelters warm," Muhammad Maskeen, a labourer, told AFP outside his tent in the devastated city of Muzaffarabad in Pakistani Kashmir.

The massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake on October 8 killed more than 73,000 people in Pakistani Kashmir and North West Frontier Province and made more than three million homeless.

"Chilly cold winds have started and we are scared how our children will spend the nights in this freezing weather," said Maskeen who lost his brother, niece and a grandmother in the deadly quake.

"It is a miserable life as the tent that I have got is not winterised and would collapse with the weight of snow."

Muhammad Salman, a student of telecommunications engineering, said he could not study in his chilly tent especially during the night when temperature drops below freezing.

"It is not possible to make a fire in the tent to keep it warm because it is dangerous and several tent blazes have killed many people this month," Salman said.

The government in collaboration with UN aid agencies is setting up community kitchens for survivors so that they do not cook food in tents.

Survivors said they dread the prospect of a prolonged rainy and snowy spell.

"If rain and snowfall persist that would bring another tragedy in the area," said Sheikh Muhammad Shafique, 45, who lives in a tent on the outskirts of the city.

The meteorological department forecast widespread rain and widespread snow over the mountains above 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) during the next two days.

The temperatures in the villages above 5,000 feet are expected to drop as minus two Celsius (28.4 Fahrenheit) to minus six degrees CelsiusFahrenheit), an official said.

Relief officials and the UN have said they had made arrangements to protect thousands of survivors by reinforcing their tents or helping them to build one-room shelters from the rubble of their homes.

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