The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström found himself stranded by snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway for a staggering 20 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, describing the conditions as the worst of his three-decade career.
Nordström, who has operated his own road freight business since the 1990s, assumed that the traffic would be cleared when he took the E22 on Wednesday. He realized his error along with around 1,000 other drivers when traffic came to a standstill near Linderöd around 1.45pm.
“The cause of the congestion occurred long before, so I mistakenly thought the police would have directed traffic to alternate routes,” the 58-year-old recounted. “But I didn’t think it through. Had there been a bit more quick-thinking involved, this situation could have been avoided and the queues would have been shorter.”
As a blizzard hit the region, approximately 1,000 vehicles were left stranded on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist drivers in evacuating their cars and distributing food and water to those still trapped.
Nordström’s truck features only a day cab, lacking a bed, forcing him to sleep upright at the wheel. Fortunately, he had a slightly better situation than those in standard passenger vehicles. However, as he was en route to Lund in Skåne, followed by a trip to Olofström in Blekinge county, he had no food or medicine in his truck and had to depend on assistance from others.
“I met various people there, including a couple from Holland who helped me the following day. I mentioned I was extremely hungry, and they kindly invited me in for coffee and a sandwich,” he shared.
Throughout the night, he monitored the Swedish Transport Administration’s website to check when the road would reopen. “The expected opening kept getting delayed. Initially, it was set for 8 PM, then midnight, and later pushed to 2 AM, eventually shifting to 2 PM the next day,” he explained.
Ultimately, around 10 AM, the Dutch couple received assistance from a local farmer who cleared a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing both of them to exit the motorway. They drove in the opposite lane, with warning lights flashing, until they reached a clear road.
“We drove out through that opening, the Dutchman and I, moving against traffic, but since there were no other vehicles, it wasn’t dangerous. We managed to escape because we took the initiative; otherwise, we might still be stranded,” Nordström stated. Having primarily driven in the Southern counties of Skåne and Blekinge, he admitted he has never faced snow conditions like those on Wednesday, noting, “I have never experienced anything like this in 30 years. It’s the worst weather Skåne has seen since the severe snow of 1979.”
