The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström experienced a harrowing 20-hour ordeal trapped in snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway, facing what he described as the harshest weather of his 30-year driving career.
Having operated his own road freight business since the 1990s, Nordström initially assumed that the traffic congestion he encountered on the E22 on Wednesday would have cleared. He soon realized his error, along with approximately 1,000 other drivers, when he got stuck near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“The reason for the traffic jam had occurred much earlier, so I thought the police would have already redirected us onto other routes,” the 58-year-old shared. “I didn’t think things through properly. If there had been quicker decision-making, we wouldn’t have faced such long delays.”
During the blizzard that hit the country, as many as 1,000 vehicles were stranded on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist in evacuating drivers and distributing food and water to those stuck in their vehicles.
Nordström’s truck, fitted with only a day cab, meant he had to sleep sitting upright while he was stranded, but he noted that his situation was still preferable compared to those in regular cars. However, as he headed to Lund and then home to Olofström, he found himself without food or medicine and had to depend on the kindness of others.
“I met a couple from Holland who helped me out the following day. I mentioned I was very hungry, and they kindly offered me coffee and a sandwich,” he recounted.
Throughout the night, he kept checking the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on road clearing, only to find the reopening time continually pushed later—from 8 PM to midnight, and then to 2 AM, finally extending to 2 PM the next day.
Eventually, around 10 AM, the Dutch couple received assistance from a local farmer who created a three-meter-wide path through the snow. They drove out in the opposite lane, flashing their warning lights, until they reached a clear road. “We managed to escape by our own initiative, or else we would still be stuck there,” he said, expressing disbelief at the extreme conditions, noting he had never experienced anything like it in three decades of driving.
