The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström found himself stranded for 20 hours on Sweden’s E22 motorway during severe weather on Wednesday and Thursday, describing the conditions as the most challenging of his 30-year career.
Having operated his own freight business since the 1990s, Nordström was surprised to encounter a traffic blockage when he took the E22 on Wednesday afternoon, along with approximately 1,000 other drivers. He came to a halt near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“I assumed that the police would have already redirected traffic due to an earlier jam,” the 58-year-old explained. “I didn’t think things through. If everyone had acted more decisively, we could have avoided such long delays.”
The blizzard left nearly 1,000 vehicles stuck on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad, prompting the Armed Forces to assist with evacuations and deliver food and water to those trapped in their cars.
Nordström’s truck was equipped with only a day cab, meaning he had no place to lie down and spent the night sitting upright. Fortunately, he was better off than those in passenger cars, even though he had no food or medicine, relying on help from others.
He met a couple from Holland who took pity on him the next day; after he mentioned his hunger, they invited him in for coffee and a sandwich. He also spent the night checking the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on when the road would reopen.
Repeatedly, updates about the reopening kept getting pushed back—from 8 PM to midnight, then to 2 AM, and finally to 2 PM the next day. Eventually, a local farmer helped the Dutch couple and Nordström clear a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing them to exit the motorway.
“We drove out against traffic, but there was no traffic to worry about, so it was safe. If we hadn’t taken the initiative, we would still be there,” he remarked. Nordström, who primarily drives in the southern regions of Skåne and Blekinge, had never experienced such extreme snow conditions in his career.
“In my 30 years of driving, I’ve never faced anything like this. The last time Skåne experienced such severe weather was in 1979 when it was completely snowbound,” he concluded.
