The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström was stranded for 20 hours on Sweden’s E22 motorway due to heavy snowfall, which he described as the worst conditions he has faced in his 30-year driving career.
Nordström, who has managed his own road freight business since the 1990s, had anticipated that the traffic would be cleared when he took the E22 on Wednesday. He realized his error, along with about 1,000 other drivers, when he was halted near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“I assumed the police would’ve already stopped the traffic and directed it elsewhere since the jam was caused earlier,” the 58-year-old remarked. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. A little more quick thinking could have prevented such long queues.”
As blizzard conditions lashed the region, nearly 1,000 vehicles were left stranded on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were deployed to assist stranded motorists by evacuating them and providing food and water.
Given that Nordström’s truck only has a day cab, which lacks a bed, he had to sleep sitting upright in the driver’s seat. However, he felt more fortunate than those stuck in passenger cars. en route to Lund in Skåne and then back to Olofström in Blekinge, he noticed he had no food or medicine in the truck, needing to rely on the kindness of others.
“I met a couple from Holland who were very helpful. I mentioned my hunger, and they invited me in for coffee and a sandwich,” he shared. He spent the night checking the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on road clearance.
“Each time, the opening time kept getting pushed back—from 8 PM to midnight, then to 2 AM, and then to 2 PM the next day,” he recounted. Ultimately, around 10 AM, assistance arrived from a local farmer who created a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing them to leave the motorway.
“We drove out together, contrary to traffic, but there were no other vehicles so it was safe. It was only through our initiative that we escaped; otherwise, we might still be there,” Nordström explained. Having primarily driven in the southern counties of Skåne and Blekinge, he admitted to never encountering such severe snow conditions in his entire career. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in 30 years. The last time Skåne faced such conditions was in 1979.”
