The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström found himself stuck in snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway for 20 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, describing it as the worst weather he has faced in his 30-year trucking career.
Nordström, who has operated his own road freight business since the 1990s, had mistakenly assumed that the traffic would be cleared when he took the E22 on Wednesday. Around 1,000 drivers, including himself, learned otherwise when they came to a standstill near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“The reason for the jam had occurred long before, so I thought the police would have redirected traffic,” the 58-year-old explained. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. If there had been more quick action, the long queues wouldn’t have formed.”
As a blizzard swept through the area, nearly 1,000 vehicles were immobilized on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called to assist those stranded, supplying food and water to those still stuck.
Nordström’s truck, equipped with only a day cab, meant he had to sleep sitting upright at the wheel. While he was better off than those in passenger cars, he lacked food or medicine for his journey to Lund in Skåne that was en route to his home in Olofström, in nearby Blekinge county. He had to rely on others for help.
“There were all kinds of people stuck there. I befriended a couple from Holland who helped me the next day. I mentioned I was really hungry, and they invited me for coffee and a sandwich,” he said.
Throughout the night, he kept an eye on the Swedish Transport Administration’s website, watching the reopening time get continuously pushed back—from 8 PM to midnight, 2 AM, and then to 2 PM the following day.
Finally, around 10 AM, he and the Dutch couple received assistance from a local farmer who cleared a path through the snow. They drove the wrong way down the opposite lane, with their warning lights flashing, until they found a passable road.
“We navigated out together, driving against traffic, but there was no traffic, so it wasn’t dangerous. Our initiative was the only reason we escaped; otherwise, we’d still be there,” he recounted. Having primarily driven in southern Skåne and Blekinge, Nordström remarked he had never faced such severe snow conditions before. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my 30 years of driving. It hasn’t been this bad in Skåne since the winter of 1979.”
