The British Red Cross' first consignment of winter tents for quake survivors is due to arrive in Pakistan from China today.
They are the first of 6,000 tents, which will arrive in the stricken zone over the next ten days.
A winter tent is the biggest priority for the several million survivors who were left homeless when the earthquake destroyed whole towns and villages on 8 October.
Aid workers are working around the clock and in very difficult terrain to deliver emergency relief, particularly tents and blankets, before winter sets in. During the day, the temperature in the mountains can reach the high 20s, but at night it plummets, and in a couple of weeks snow will have reached the valleys.
The tents are designed to withstand the harsh winter as they are made from a heavier material and contain a chimney and stove.
There has been a massive demand for the tents due to the scale of destruction. Immediately after the earthquake the Pakistan Government estimated it needed as many as 450,000 tents.
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has ordered a total of 15,000 tents from reputable manufacturers in China, which includes the British Red Cross consignment.
The British Red Cross has spent more than £720,000 on the tents, which cost £121.43 each.
The Department for International Development is chartering a total of eight flights from Tianjin, in China to deliver the 6,000 tents, as soon as they are ready, to Islamabad, in Pakistan.
Inmaculada Lopez, British Red Cross South Asia expert, said the tents will be ready in phases and are being flown out to Pakistan as soon as they are made.
"We are concerned that a lot of people who survived the quake may not survive the winter without proper shelter," she said.
"But we are doing our utmost to ensure people have shelter. The winter tent has been recognised as the most essential relief item in this acute emergency."
More than 20,000 families have received emergency aid in the relief operation, which has involved four logisticians from the British Red Cross.