The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström faced a daunting situation when he was stuck in heavy snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway for 20 hours on Wednesday and Thursday. He described the conditions as the worst he has encountered in his 30-year career, as reported by The Local.
Having operated his own road freight business since the 1990s, Nordström admitted he mistakenly thought the blocked traffic would be resolved by the time he took the E22 on Wednesday. He joined around 1,000 other drivers who found themselves halted near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“I assumed the police would have already diverted traffic onto alternative routes since the cause of the jam occurred earlier,” recounted the 58-year-old. “In hindsight, I didn’t give it much thought. A bit more quick thinking might have prevented such a long wait.”
As a blizzard wreaked havoc, approximately 1,000 vehicles were stranded on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist, helping evacuate motorists and provide food and water to those trapped.
Nordström’s truck, equipped only with a day cab and lacking a bed, forced him to spend the night sitting upright at the wheel, yet he was in a better situation than many in passenger vehicles. On his way to Lund in Skåne, en route to his home in Olofström in Blekinge county, he found himself without food or medicine, relying on the generosity of others for sustenance.
During his ordeal, he befriended a couple from Holland who assisted him the following day. As he expressed his hunger, they kindly invited him in for coffee and a sandwich. Meanwhile, he kept checking the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on when the road would reopen.
“The reopening times kept getting delayed, first at 8 PM, then midnight, then 2 AM, and finally 2 PM the next day,” he noted. Ultimately, around 10 AM, the Dutchman received assistance from a local farmer, who cleared a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing them to escape the motorway. They proceeded to drive against traffic for safety, making their way onto a drivable road.
“We both managed to drive out through the gap, despite going the wrong way—there was no traffic, so it wasn’t dangerous. It was only thanks to our initiative that we got out; otherwise, we might still be there,” he recalled. Having primarily driven in southern Skåne and Blekinge, he expressed his astonishment at the severe weather, noting that he had never experienced anything like it in his three decades of driving, adding that the conditions hadn’t been this extreme since around 1979.
