The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström found himself stranded for 20 hours on Sweden’s E22 motorway during a severe snowstorm, experiencing the worst weather of his 30-year career.
Nordström, who has operated his own road freight business since the 1990s, mistakenly assumed that traffic would have been cleared when he took the E22 on Wednesday. He quickly realized his error around Linderöd at approximately 1:45 PM, along with around 1,000 other drivers.
“I thought the police would have already redirected traffic, as the jam had formed some time earlier,” the 58-year-old told The Local. “I didn’t think it through enough. A bit more quick decision-making could have prevented the long queues.”
As blizzard conditions battered the region, nearly 1,000 vehicles were trapped on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were deployed to assist in evacuating people from their vehicles and delivering food and water to those stuck.
Although Nordström’s truck is equipped with only a day cab—lacking a bed—he still fared better than those in passenger vehicles. However, as he was en route to Lund and then home to Olofström, he found himself without food or medicine and had to depend on others for aid.
“There were various people around. I struck up a friendship with a couple from Holland who helped me the next day. I was extremely hungry, and they kindly offered me coffee and a sandwich,” he recounted.
Throughout the night, he monitored the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on when the road would reopen, but the anticipated times kept getting postponed—from 8 PM to midnight, then to 2 AM, and finally to 2 PM the next day.
Eventually, around 10 AM, a local farmer assisted the Dutch couple in creating a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing both vehicles to escape the motorway. They drove in the opposite lane with warning lights flashing until they reached a clearer road. “It was only by taking the initiative that we managed to escape,” he stated, “or else we would still be stuck there.” Nordström noted that he has never faced such harsh conditions in his time driving, mentioning that similar weather hasn’t been seen in Skåne since 1979.
