Self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström found himself trapped in snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway for an exhausting 20 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, experiencing what he described to The Local as the worst weather conditions in his 30-year career.
Nordström, who has been operating his own road freight company since the 1990s, mistakenly believed that the blocked traffic would have been resolved when he took the E22 on Wednesday. He realized his error along with nearly 1,000 other drivers when he came to a stop near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“The reason for the jam happened a long time earlier, so I just assumed the police would have redirected traffic onto other roads,” the 58-year-old explained. “However, I didn’t think it through. If there had been more quick-thinking involved, the long queues could have been avoided.”
As a blizzard lashed the country, up to 1,000 vehicles became stranded on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad, prompting the Armed Forces to assist in evacuating people from their cars and delivering food and water to those who remained stuck.
Nordström’s truck was equipped with only a day cab, lacking a bed, which forced him to sleep upright at the wheel. Fortunately, his situation was better than that of passengers in regular cars. Still, on his way to Lund in Skåne and then home to Olofström in Blekinge county, he had no provisions or medicine, relying on the kindness of others for support.
“I met various people there, including a couple from Holland who helped me the next day. I mentioned I was extremely hungry, and they kindly invited me in for coffee and a sandwich,” he recounted, noting that he spent the night monitoring the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on when the road would reopen.
Frustratingly, the reopening time kept being postponed: first it was 8 PM, then midnight, then 2 AM, before being pushed to 2 PM the following day. Ultimately, around 10 AM, the Dutchman received assistance from a local farmer, who cleared a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing them both to exit the motorway. They then drove against traffic, using hazard lights, until they found a usable road.
“We both drove through the opening, the Dutchman and I. We went against the traffic, but there was no danger as there was no traffic. It was our initiative that got us out; otherwise, we’d still be stuck,” Nordström said. Having primarily driven in southern Skåne and Blekinge, he had never experienced snow conditions like those on Wednesday, stating, “In my 30 years, I’ve never been in anything like this. Such extreme weather hasn’t occurred in Skåne since 1979, when the entire region was blanketed in snow.”
