Self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström found himself stuck in snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway for a staggering 20 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, describing the conditions as the worst he has experienced in his three-decade career.
Having run his own road freight business since the 1990s, Nordström expected that the blocked traffic would be cleared by the time he entered the E22. However, he and around 1,000 other drivers learned otherwise when they came to a standstill near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“The cause of the traffic jam had occurred quite some time ago, so I assumed the police had already redirected vehicles. I didn’t think things through,” said the 58-year-old. “If there had been quicker decision-making, we wouldn’t have seen such long lines.”
As a blizzard hit the area, nearly 1,000 vehicles were stranded on the stretch of the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were deployed to assist stranded drivers by evacuating them from their vehicles and providing food and water to those still stuck.
Nordström’s truck is equipped only with a “day cab,” meaning there is no sleeping area, forcing him to stay awake and sleep upright at the wheel. However, he recognized that he was in a comparatively better situation than those in passenger cars.
On his way to Lund in Skåne and then back home to Olofström in Blekinge county, he had no food or medication in his truck and relied on the kindness of others for help. “I met a couple from Holland who offered me coffee and a sandwich when I mentioned how hungry I was,” he recounted.
As he waited for updates, Nordström frequently checked the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for news on when the road would reopen, but the anticipated times kept being postponed. “It started at 8 PM, then pushed to midnight, then 2 AM, and finally 2 PM the next day,” he explained.
Eventually, at around 10 AM, a local farmer assisted the Dutchman, and together they formed a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing their escape from the motorway. They drove against the traffic for safety since no vehicles were present. “It was only through our initiative that we were able to leave; otherwise, we would still be stuck,” Nordström concluded.
Nordström, who primarily operates in Skåne and Blekinge, remarked that he had never encountered snow conditions like those he faced on Wednesday. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my 30 years of driving,” he stated. “There hasn’t been this level of snow in Skåne since 1979 or so, when the whole region was buried in snow.”
