Self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström endured a grueling 20-hour snow entrapment on Sweden’s E22 motorway, describing it to The Local as the harshest weather he has faced in his 30-year career.
Since the 1990s, Nordström has operated his own road freight business. On Wednesday, he mistakenly believed that the halted traffic would be cleared and joined around 1,000 other drivers stuck near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“The congestion was caused much earlier, so I thought the police had already redirected traffic,” explained the 58-year-old. “I didn’t put much thought into it. A bit more quick thinking could have prevented this long wait.”
As a blizzard struck the region, up to 1,000 vehicles were stranded on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist stranded motorists with evacuations and to distribute food and water.
Nordström’s truck features only a day cab, leaving him to sleep upright at the wheel, but he was in a better position than many in passenger cars. However, on his route to Lund and back home to Olofström, he found himself lacking food and medicine.
He shared, “I met a couple from Holland who were very helpful. I told them I was starving, and they invited me for coffee and a sandwich.” During the night, he continually monitored the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on road clearance.
The reopening time kept getting pushed back from 8 PM to midnight, then to 2 AM, and finally to 2 PM the next day. Ultimately, around 10 AM, the Dutch couple received assistance from a local farmer, who cleared a three-meter-wide path in the snow. They then navigated out of the motorway by traveling down the opposite lane, flashing their warning lights until they reached a clear road.
“We both drove out through the opening, the Dutchman and I, against traffic. There was no one else around, so it was safe. It was our initiative that got us out; otherwise, we’d still be stuck there,” he remarked. Nordström, who typically drives in Skåne and Blekinge, had never encountered such extreme snow conditions before. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my 30 years of driving. The weather hasn’t been this severe in Skåne since 1979.”
