The temperature in Katherine fell to 4.6 degrees this morning, after a low of 5.2 yesterday.

Katherine remains in a housing crisis with more people sleeping rough, per capita, than anywhere else in Australia.

"People are sleeping outside by the river with no blankets," Stella Ryan said today at the Katherine Doorways Hub, a drop in centre supporting hundreds of people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.

Stella and her partner Ned Poulson, were one of the many who received a warm blanket this morning.

They have been on a housing waiting list for two or three years, and currently struggle through the freezing temperatures in the "scrub" with little protection, she said.

"Once we have eaten, we pour water on the fire and then it is cold," Ned Poulson said, "that is the rules."

He said he has lived in Katherine for most of his life and can't remember a colder winter.

"We don't always have blankets, so we wait for the sun to come up."

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The couple said they have been battling flu like symptoms, exacerbated by the icy temperatures, for weeks now.

The sudden onset of the coldest temperatures seen in 12 years has seen jumpers and blankets flying off the shelves in charity shops across Katherine.

Coupled with the fact people are not donating enough, the charity shops are struggling to match the uptake.

"Tindal really saved the day," Vinnies centre coordinator, Kay Faulkner said.

"We would not have had enough blankets to go around if they had not turned up with two crate-fulls of about 150 blankets."

The volunteers are kept busy running back and forth from the back room where there is a high pile of blankets, as the need to restock the floor is constant, Ms Faulkner said.

"Every year it is the same, there is never enough to go around," she said.

"The whole town is feeling it."

Donation bins are located out the front of most charity shops in Katherine, and are in desperate need of jumpers and other warm winter gear.

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