Snowstorm Traps 1,000 Vehicles On Swedish Highway For Up To 20 Hours

Photo: Johan Nilsson/ TT / TT News Agency / AFP (Getty Images)

There have been 1,000 vehicles trapped on a major highway in southern Sweden over the past day as a snowstorm made its way across the Nordic country. Snowdrifts slammed a 20-mile portion of the E22 between Horby and Kristianstad. According to the BBC, the roadway was impassable in both directions by around 9:00 a.m. local time yesterday. Anyone who was driving along the highway by then was stuck.

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The Swedish government deployed the army to use its tracked vehicles and assist rescue efforts as the country saw record low temperatures, Reuters reports. Temperatures got as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit in Swedish Lapland. Public transportation services were canceled and residents were urged to only travel if absolutely necessary. Those stranded on the E22 had to be shoveled out by hand, and cars were still stuck in bumper-to-bumper gridlock.

Authorities stated that by noon, anyone who wanted to abandon their cars was evacuated. Drivers and passengers were taken to recovery centers after spending up to 20 hours in the freezing cold. The only people left on the highway were truck drivers and people who elected to wait it out. Rescuers were able to cut out gaps in the median barriers to allow some to turn around.

Snowplows arrived on-site by Wednesday night, but this didn’t mark an end to the frosty crisis. A Swedish police spokesperson told Britain’s public broadcaster, “the problem is that it is snowing so heavily that the road is covered in snow just half an hour after plowing.” The E22 isn’t expected to be reopened until Friday.