The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström found himself stranded by snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway for a staggering 20 hours on Wednesday and Thursday. He described the conditions as the worst he has faced in his 30-year career to The Local.
Nordström, who has been operating his road freight business since the 1990s, entered the E22 with the expectation that the traffic would be cleared. He soon realized his mistake when he, along with about 1,000 other drivers, came to a halt near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“I assumed the police would have intervened and diverted traffic away from the blockage,” said the 58-year-old. “I didn’t think it through enough. If there had been more decisive action, this jam could have been avoided.”
Up to 1,000 vehicles became immobilized on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad as a blizzard swept through the area. The Armed Forces were called in to assist with evacuating stranded motorists and delivering essential supplies such as food and water.
As his truck features only a day cab, Nordström was forced to sleep upright in his seat. Fortunately, he had a better situation than those stuck in regular cars. However, he lacked food and medicine while en route to Lund in Skåne, so he had to depend on the kindness of others.
During his ordeal, he connected with a Dutch couple who helped him the next day. He mentioned, “I told them I was really hungry, and they invited me in for coffee and a sandwich.” He spent the night checking the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on when the road would reopen.
Timelines for the road’s reopening kept shifting—first to 8 PM, then to midnight, followed by 2 AM, and then finally 2 PM the next day. Ultimately, around 10 AM, he and the Dutchman received assistance from a local farmer who cleared a narrow path through the snow, allowing them to exit the motorway.
Both drivers exited contrary to traffic flow, but as there was no oncoming traffic, it was safe. “We only managed to get out thanks to our own initiative; otherwise, we might still be stuck there,” Nordström remarked. He noted that he had never experienced such severe snow conditions in his long career, emphasizing that Skåne hadn’t seen anything like this since 1979.
