Doctors at Bridgeport Hospital say just 10 minutes of skin exposure in extremely cold weather can seriously affect someone's body and even lead to frostbite.

Experts are advising people to bundle up in coats, scarves and gloves as the temperatures drop.

"Your body has to provide blood to all the cells in the body," says Dr. Joseph Wilkinson. "So when it gets cold your body says 'let's clamp down on the blood supply to the skin.' So your skin gets less and less flow of blood. That causes frostbite and the like."

Wilkinson says that while colds and the flu aren't caused directly by cold weather, things like frostbite and hypothermia can easily be avoided by dressing warm and staying out of the cold weather for long periods of time.

Officials in Bridgeport and Stamford have opened warming centers for those who need them.