The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström was stranded for 20 hours on Sweden’s E22 motorway due to heavy snowfall, describing the conditions as the worst he has faced in his 30-year driving career.
Nordström, who has operated his own freight business since the 1990s, mistakenly assumed that traffic would be cleared when he took the E22 on Wednesday. He, along with about 1,000 other drivers, found himself stuck near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“I thought the police would have already managed the situation by diverting traffic,” the 58-year-old shared. “I didn’t apply much critical thinking at that moment. With a bit more quick thinking, the long queues could have been avoided.”
During the blizzard, nearly 1,000 vehicles were caught on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist with evacuations and to provide food and water to those trapped.
While Nordström’s truck has only a day cab, requiring him to sleep upright at the wheel, he acknowledged that he was better off than those in regular cars. However, he lacked food and medication on his way to Lund and then home to Olofström, relying on the kindness of others for assistance.
He recounted meeting a couple from Holland who assisted him the next day after he expressed his hunger. “They kindly invited me for coffee and a sandwich,” he said, noting how he spent the night checking the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on road conditions.
Initially scheduled to reopen at 8 PM, the estimated time kept getting pushed back to midnight, then 2 AM, and finally to 2 PM the following day. Ultimately, around 10 AM, a local farmer helped Nordström and the Dutchman create a three-meter-wide path in the snow, allowing them to escape by driving the wrong way down the opposite lane until they found a clear route.
Having primarily driven in Skåne and Blekinge, Nordström remarked, “I’ve never experienced anything like this in all my years. The last time there was such severe weather in Skåne was back in 1979, when it was deeply snowed in.”
