On the eve of New Year’s Eve, Poland was hit by heavy snowfall, causing traffic arteries connecting the capital Warsaw to the Baltic Sea port city of Gdansk to be blocked. The Polish police confirmed on Wednesday (December 31) that the heavy snowfall at night caused severe traffic paralysis, with stranded vehicles lining up for up to 20 kilometers and resulting in power outages for up to 15,000 households.
According to meteorological monitoring, the blizzard in northern provinces of Poland accumulated over 20 to 30 centimeters of snow in a short period, accompanied by strong winds reaching speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour. The blizzard led to extremely low visibility on the roads and severe icing, making it difficult for snowplows to clear the roads promptly.
The S7 expressway is a crucial transportation artery that runs north-south through Poland, supporting the return home and logistics during the New Year holidays. According to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), due to the varied terrain of this stretch of road, many heavy trucks without snow tires or chains slid on icy slopes, blocking all lanes horizontally and causing complete traffic paralysis behind them.
Tomasz Markowski, a spokesperson for the Olsztyn police department, told Reuters that the crisis began on Tuesday afternoon at 4 o’clock, with hundreds of vehicles sliding in the low temperatures. Fortunately, after a night of clearing efforts, traffic had gradually resumed by early Wednesday morning.
In the extreme cold of nearly -10°C, hundreds of drivers were stranded overnight. The Ostroda police collaborated with the city government to distribute hot coffee and tea to those stranded. The police department emphasized in an official statement that although drivers needed to intermittently start their engines for warmth, they must periodically clear the exhaust pipes that may be blocked by snow to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
In addition to the road paralysis, data from the Poland Security Center (RCB) showed that about 15,000 households in the north were without power due to the snowstorm. Polish public radio reported flight delays at Warsaw Chopin Airport due to de-icing operations, and some train routes to and from the north were also blocked due to power failures.
Stanislaw Bukowiec, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, confirmed that no injuries had been reported due to this incident. The Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) cautioned that due to ongoing icing, road conditions during New Year’s Day remain extremely dangerous.