Niclas Nordström, a self-employed truck driver, found himself stranded by snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway for a grueling 20 hours during a severe blizzard on Wednesday and Thursday, describing the conditions as the worst he has faced in his 30-year career, according to The Local.
Having operated his own road freight business since the 1990s, Nordström was caught off guard when he hit a standstill around Linderöd at approximately 1:45 PM on Wednesday. He, along with about 1,000 other drivers, had mistakenly assumed that the traffic would have been cleared.
“The reason for the jam occurred much earlier, so I thought the police would have already redirected traffic,” the 58-year-old reflected. “But I didn’t think it through properly. If there had been quicker decision-making, such long queues could have been avoided.”
As a blizzard engulfed the region, up to 1,000 vehicles became stuck on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist with evacuations and to provide food and water to those trapped in their vehicles.
Nordström’s truck is equipped with only a day cab, lacking a bed, which forced him to sleep upright at the wheel. However, he noted that his situation was still better compared to those in regular passenger cars. On his journey to Lund in Skåne, he lacked food and medicine, relying on the kindness of others for assistance.
“I met various people, including a couple from Holland who helped me the next day after I expressed my hunger. They welcomed me in for coffee and a sandwich,” he shared. He spent the night glued to the Swedish Transport Administration’s website, awaiting updates on the road’s reopening.
“The times kept getting pushed back. It started as 8 PM, then midnight, followed by 2 AM, and finally 2 PM the next day,” he said.
Ultimately, around 10 AM, a local farmer aided the Dutchman and Nordström by carving a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing them to exit the motorway. They both drove the wrong way down the opposite lane, using their hazard lights, until they reached a clear road.
Nordström, whose routes are predominantly in southern counties Skåne and Blekinge, remarked, “I’ve never encountered anything like this in my 30 years of driving. The weather hasn’t been this severe in Skåne since around 1979 when it was completely buried in snow.”
