The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström found himself stranded by snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway for an exhausting 20 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, describing the conditions as the worst he has faced in his 30-year career.
Nordström, who has operated his own road freight business since the 1990s, had mistakenly assumed that the traffic congestion on the E22 would have been resolved by the time he set out on Wednesday. He, along with about 1,000 other drivers, realized his error when he hit a standstill near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“The cause of the traffic jam occurred much earlier, so I thought the police would have managed to reroute vehicles onto alternate roads,” the 58-year-old explained. “I didn’t really consider the situation properly. With a bit more quick thinking, this whole mess could have been avoided, and the queues wouldn’t have been so long.”
As blizzard conditions raged, nearly 1,000 vehicles were trapped on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist stranded motorists by providing evacuations and delivering food and water to those still caught in the situation.
Although Nordström’s truck is equipped with only a day cab—lacking a bed—allowing him to sleep sitting upright, he considered himself luckier than those in regular cars. However, en route to Lund in Skåne before heading home to Olofström in Blekinge county, he found himself without food or medicine, relying on the kindness of others for support.
“I met some travelers from Holland who were very helpful. When I mentioned I was really hungry, they graciously invited me in for coffee and a sandwich,” Nordström shared. During the night, he kept checking the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on when the road would reopen.
“The reopening time kept getting pushed back. First it was set for 8 PM, then midnight, followed by 2 AM, and eventually 2 PM the next day,” he recalled. Finally, at around 10 AM, a Dutchman he met got assistance from a local farmer who cleared a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing them to escape the motorway. They drove against traffic, using their hazard lights, until they reached a clearer road.
“We both managed to exit through that opening, heading in the wrong direction. But since there were no other cars, it wasn’t risky. It was only our initiative that got us out; otherwise, we’d still be stranded,” he noted. Having primarily driven in southern counties like Skåne and Blekinge, Nordström remarked that he had never experienced conditions like what he faced that day, stating, “I’ve been driving for 30 years, and I’ve never encountered anything like this. Such severe weather hasn’t been seen in Skåne since around 1979 when the entire region was buried in snow.”
