The self-employed truck driver Niclas Nordström faced severe snow conditions while stranded for 20 hours on Sweden’s E22 motorway on Wednesday and Thursday. He described these as the harshest weather he has experienced in three decades of driving.
Nordström, who has operated his own road freight business since the 1990s, mistakenly thought that traffic on the E22 would have been cleared when he entered the motorway on Wednesday. Along with around 1,000 other drivers, he realized the error when he came to a standstill near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“I assumed the police would have already redirected traffic since the jam had started much earlier,” the 58-year-old stated. “Looking back, I should have thought about it more. If there had been quicker decision-making, we wouldn’t have faced such long delays.”
As blizzard conditions swept through the region, up to 1,000 vehicles were stranded on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad, prompting the Armed Forces to step in to assist with evacuation and supply food and water to those affected.
Nordström’s truck only features a day cab, lacking a sleeping area, which forced him to sleep sitting up at the wheel. However, he noted that he was better off than those in passenger vehicles. On his way to Lund in Skåne and then back home to Olofström in Blekinge, he found himself without food or medicine in his truck and had to depend on others for help.
“There were different people stuck there. I befriended a couple from Holland who assisted me the next day. I expressed how hungry I was, and they kindly invited me in for coffee and a sandwich,” he recounted.
Throughout the night, Nordström continuously checked the Swedish Transport Administration’s website for updates on when the road would reopen. “Each time, the reopening was delayed. It was rescheduled from 8 PM to midnight, then to 2 AM, and finally to 2 PM the next day,” he explained.
Eventually, around 10 AM, the Dutch couple received assistance from a local farmer who cleared a three-meter-wide path through the snow, allowing them to exit the motorway. With their warning lights flashing, they then drove in the opposite lane until they found a passable road. “We took matters into our own hands to escape; otherwise, we might still be there,” Nordström added.
Having primarily driven in the southern counties of Skåne and Blekinge, Nordström noted that he has never faced snow conditions like those he encountered that day. “In my 30 years of driving, I’ve never experienced anything like this. There hasn’t been such severe weather in Skåne since 1979,” he remarked.
