A crime writer who lost a laptop containing the draft of her next novel in the snow blizzard that hit Shetland, has said it has now been found.

Ann Cleeves appealed for help after losing the computer, which she feared may have fallen out of her bag on Monday, as she made her way through Lerwick in the worst conditions the area has endured in 20 years.

On Thursday evening she revealed that the laptop had been found in the snow by a “sharp-eyed” young woman.

The author, whose books have been adapted into television series Shetland and Vera, said the device is not much use having been run over, though she is glad it is safe.

Posting a picture of the damaged laptop on Twitter, Cleeves wrote: “Here it is! Found in the snow not far from where I was staying by sharp-eyed Rachel as she got off the school bus.”

During the exchange, the young woman’s mother Angela McWilliam replied, informing the novelist that her daughter was called Rachel Wiseman and in fact found the electronic device when she was “digging out her car from the snow”.

After finding the laptop, Ms Wiseman took it to her mum, who thought it might have been one of the school kids’ laptops, so contacted the school WhatsApp group.

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Having mistakenly thought that Ms Wiseman was a schoolchild, Ms Cleeves replied: “Ah, when I phoned I thought she sounded more grown up than a school child!”

Responding to another person who asked whether the data on the device is retrievable, Ms Cleeves wrote: “Don’t know. Will have to consult an expert.”

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Ms Cleeves explained: “It was a young woman who was digging her car out that had been stuck there and she found it.

“The bus driver said ‘I think I know whose that is’, and got in touch with my friend Ingrid with whom I’m staying – because Shetland is that sort of place, people knew that I was friendly with her – and she went and picked it up from Rachel’s mum.

“What is amazing is the support I’ve had from Shetlanders and I’d like to say a huge thank-you to Shetland, they’re there struggling with no power, with trying to keep warm, to get people fed and there they were keeping an eye out for my laptop, it’s classic Shetland and I hope that they all get reconnected and warm soon.”

A major incident for Shetland was declared on Tuesday by the Scottish government after thousands of homes were left without power following significant snowfall.

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Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution said that as of 1pm on Friday, around 1,600 properties remain without power in parts of Voe, Brae and West Mainland in Shetland.

Around 150 engineers are battling snow and ice to rebuild overhead power lines and reconnect properties to the network, following the arrival of additional crews and equipment.

SSEN is hoping to restore power to a large majority of homes by Sunday and expects to continue making progress over the next 48 hours.

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