This week the United Kingdom has been thoroughly battered by bad weather, and despite the fact that it's now March, Great Britain has been covered in snow and ice thanks to the so-called "Beast from the East" which has collided with Storm Emma, blizzard conditions have brought Scotland, England and Wales to a near-standstill. On Thursday March 1, the Met Office was forced to issue a red warning as temperatures dropped to below freezing and up to 20 inches of snow fell in some locations. Transport up and down the country was affected, drivers were left stranded overnight in their vehicles because of impassible roads, and schools and businesses were hastily closed because of the dangerous conditions.
However, the weather hasn't been all bad news. In fact, for police investigators in West Yorkshire, the inclement weather actually helped them with a major drugs bust, and revealed the location of a huge cannabis farm which a homeowner had managed to keep secret for some time.
Police in the area first became suspicious of the property when they noticed that one house in particular had no snow on its roof whatsoever, despite the fact that the semi-detached home's neighbours all had snow on theirs. The police then managed to obtain a search warrant for the house on Arctic Street in Keighley after one curious officer noticed a very a strong smell of marijuana emanating from it.
Drug experts advanced the theory that the lack of snow was could be blamed on a large amount of strong heat coming inside the property. When police searched the house, they immediately discovered approximately 322 cannabis plants in four bedrooms and in the cellar of the house. The total worth of the haul is estimated to total around £80,000. It is believed that the heat from the lamps used to cultivate the cannabis crops was melting the ice and snow off the roof.
PC James Butterfield, who assisted in the bust, later tweeted that: "Removing this filth from the streets is always great. Knowing that the morons responsible for it are £80k out of pocket is a Bruceybonus! #didntwedowell." His colleague, PC Caroline Foster, also shared pictures from the haul on social media, and tweeted: "Whilst the snow has kept the burglars at bay it has also helped us in finding some rather large plants ... Hmmm, I wonder why there is no snow on your roof? 280+ plants seized from an address in Keighley today, some nearly six foot tall."
Neighbour Vicky Watson, told the Daily Mail that: 'Two Eastern European blokes, in their 30s, moved in about 18 months ago. In the cold weather my house is normally freezing because the insulation is rubbish, but since they moved in next door my bathroom has been absolutely red hot. The wall was warm to touch. It was suspicious, you could hear fans whirring but no normal sounds of people living there." The property was unoccupied at the time of the arrests, so no arrests were made.