The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström was stranded by snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway for a staggering 20 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, describing the conditions as the worst he has faced in his 30-year career.
Having operated his own road freight business since the 1990s, Nordström expected the traffic congestion to be resolved when he chose the E22 on Wednesday. He soon realized his mistake along with around 1,000 other drivers when he came to a standstill near Linderöd at approximately 1:45 PM.
“The cause of the gridlock occurred much earlier, so I just thought the police would have already redirected traffic,” the 58-year-old told The Local. “But I didn’t put much thought into it. If there had been quicker decision-making, we wouldn’t have faced such long delays.”
As a blizzard hit, nearly 1,000 vehicles were trapped on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist, evacuating people from their vehicles and delivering food and water to those still stranded.
Nordström’s truck features a day cab without a bed, forcing him to sleep upright in the driver’s seat. However, he felt more fortunate than those stuck in passenger cars. On his way to Lund in Skåne and then home to Olofström in Blekinge county when he became trapped, he lacked food and medicine in the truck, relying on the kindness of others for assistance.
“There were all sorts of people stuck. I met a couple from Holland who helped me the next day. When I mentioned I was very hungry, they invited me in for coffee and a sandwich,” he shared, noting he spent the night checking the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on when the road would reopen.
“Each time, the reopening time kept getting postponed—from 8 PM to midnight, then 2 AM, and finally to 2 PM the next day,” he lamented. Eventually, around 10 AM, a local farmer assisted the Dutch couple, creating a three-meter-wide clearing in the snow, enabling them to exit the motorway by driving in the opposite direction until they found a drivable road.
