Sadiq Khan opens emergency homeless shelters to cope with freezing temperatures as 'mini beast from the East' bites

24/7 services providing shelter for rough sleepers open up across capital as temperatures stoop below zero

Shelter open up across the capital in line with a policy introduced by the Mayor in December requiring emergency shelters as soon as temperatures fall below zero (Getty )

Emergency shelters have opened across London to provide refuge for homeless people as a wintry snap dubbed the “mini beast from the East” tightens its grip.

Following weather warnings from the Met Office, Mayor Sadiq Khan announced 24/7 services providing shelter for rough sleepers would open up in the capital, in line with a policy he introduced in December requiring them to open whenever temperatures fall below zero.

Previously, such services were only available for people when three consecutive days of freezing temperatures were forecast.

Mr Khan said on Friday: “No one should be faced with sleeping rough on our streets, and as the temperature drops, we're opening emergency cold-weather shelters across London.

“As Mayor, I’ve changed City Hall policy to open emergency cold-weather shelters more often than they were before.

”They are now open whenever temperatures in London fall below zero so that everyone in need has a warm place to stay, and all 33 London boroughs are now operating their own shelters in the same way too.”

The Mayor urged Londoners to keep giving to a coalition of 18 homeless charities working with him to support rough sleepers in the capital, and to let StreetLink know if they see anyone sleeping rough.

It comes days after after a judge ruled that a squat housing more than 150 homeless people in a derelict London office block must be evicted, prompting anger and fear in scores of rough sleepers for whom the shelter had become a source of comfort and support.

People who had been sleeping in the building, dubbed the Sofia Solidarity Centre by the volunteers who converted it, told The Independent the consequences of being evicted could be fatal.

They remain in the building, but are likely to be cleared out of the makeshift shelter on Monday.

The freezing temperatures that have swept across the country this winter have been of particular concern after figures revealed the number of people sleeping rough across England hit the highest level on record.

A homeless man died in his snow-covered tent near a church earlier this month, weeks after being discharged from hospital with pneumonia. Another rough sleeper died yards from the Houses of Parliament several weeks before.

On Friday, the Met Office issued weather warnings for north-west England, Yorkshire, the Midlands, London and south-east England.

Road, rail and air travel have been affected by snow and ice and airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted have urged travellers to check flight information before travelling.