Self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström found himself stranded by snowfall on Sweden’s E22 motorway for an entire 20 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, describing the conditions as the worst he has faced in his 30-year career.
Nordström, who has operated his own road freight business since the 1990s, thought that the traffic obstruction would have been resolved when he took the E22 on Wednesday. He soon realized his error, along with roughly 1,000 other drivers, when he was stuck near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“I had assumed the jam was cleared earlier, so I thought the police would have redirected traffic,” the 58-year-old stated. “In hindsight, I should have thought it through more carefully. Better decision-making could have avoided these long queues.”
As a blizzard hit the area, up to 1,000 vehicles were left immobilized on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist stranded motorists by providing food and water and helping evacuate their vehicles.
Nordström’s truck is equipped with only a ‘day cab,’ leaving him without a bed and forcing him to sleep upright in the driver’s seat. Luckily, he was in a somewhat better situation than many passengers in regular cars. However, during his journey to Lund in Skåne and back home to Olofström in Blekinge, he found himself without food or medicine and had to count on help from others.
“I met various folks there, including a couple from Holland who offered me coffee and a sandwich when I told them I was starving,” he recalled. He spent the night checking the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on the road’s reopening.
“Every time I checked, the timeline kept getting pushed back—first it was 8 PM, then midnight, then 2 AM, and eventually 2 PM the next day.” Ultimately, he managed to leave the motorway around 10 AM with assistance from a local farmer who cleared a narrow path in the snow. Together, they drove against traffic down the opposite lane with flashing warning lights until they reached a clear road.
“We both managed to get through that opening. We drove against traffic, but it was safe since there were no vehicles. If we hadn’t taken the initiative, we might still be stuck there,” he reflected. Nordström, who mainly drives in Skåne and Blekinge, stated, “I’ve never encountered conditions like this in the 30 years I’ve been driving. It hasn’t been this severe in Skåne since 1979 when the whole region was buried in snow.”
