The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström experienced a harrowing 20-hour entrapment due to snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway, labeling the weather conditions as the worst he has faced in his 30-year career.
Since the 1990s, Nordström has been running his own road freight business. He incorrectly assumed that the traffic congestion would have been resolved when he chose to take the E22 on Wednesday. Around 1,000 other drivers shared his fate when they became immobilized near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“The cause of the blockage happened much earlier, so I thought the police would have redirected the traffic,” the 58-year-old told The Local. “I didn’t think things through. If there had been quicker decision-making, we wouldn’t have faced such long waits.”
As a blizzard hit the region, up to 1,000 vehicles were left stranded between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist with evacuations and to provide food and water to those caught in the storm.
Nordström’s truck was equipped with a day cab, offering no sleeping area, forcing him to sleep upright in his seat. Fortunately, he fared better than those in passenger cars but found himself without food or medicine, relying on the kindness of others.
He met a couple from Holland who offered him coffee and a sandwich after he expressed his hunger. During the night, he frequently checked the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on the road’s reopening, only to find the estimated times continually pushed back.
Ultimately, around 10 AM, the Dutchman received assistance from a local farmer who cleared a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing both to safely exit the motorway. They drove against traffic lights to navigate their way onto an accessible road.
Having primarily driven in the southern counties of Skåne and Blekinge, Nordström has never encountered snow conditions like those he faced on that Wednesday. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my three decades of driving. The last time Skåne faced such severe weather was in 1979,” he noted.
