The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström found himself snowbound for 20 hours on Sweden’s E22 motorway, describing it as the worst weather he’s faced in his 30-year career.
Since starting his own road freight business in the 1990s, Nordström believed that traffic issues on the E22 would have been resolved by the time he arrived on Wednesday. However, he, along with approximately 1,000 other drivers, hit a standstill near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“The reason for the jam occurred much earlier, so I thought the police had already redirected traffic,” the 58-year-old said. “But I didn’t think it through properly. With some quicker decision-making, this situation could have been avoided and the queues wouldn’t have been so long.”
As a blizzard pummeled the area, nearly 1,000 vehicles were stranded on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist with evacuations and deliver food and water to those stuck in their cars.
Nordström’s truck was equipped only with a day cab, lacking a bed, which forced him to sleep in an upright position. However, he felt better off than those in standard passenger vehicles. En route to Lund in Skåne before heading home to Olofström in Blekinge county, he found himself without food or medication, relying on the generosity of fellow travelers for support.
“I met a couple from Holland who helped me the next day. Feeling extremely hungry, they invited me in for coffee and a sandwich,” he recounted.
He spent the night checking the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on road clearance, only to find the reopening time continuously postponed—from 8 PM to midnight, then 2 AM, and finally 2 PM the next day.
Finally, around 10 AM, assistance came from a local farmer who cleared a three-meter-wide path through the snow, enabling both Nordström and the Dutchman to escape the motorway. They navigated down the opposite lane with their warning lights flashing until they reached a clear road. “We managed to get out ourselves; otherwise, we would still be stuck,” he added.
Having primarily driven in the southern counties of Skåne and Blekinge, Nordström admitted he had never experienced snow conditions like those on Wednesday. “I’ve never encountered anything like this in my 30 years of driving. It’s been this severe in Skåne since 1979 when the region was completely buried in snow.”
