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[Ken]

If I were to buy a new digital radio and the power went off like it did for almost a week in January during the floods.... could I still hear local radio for advice / situation reports etc.... If not what would you advise in an emergency situation?

[Danow]

Stick to analogue reception for emergencies if you lose the mains, your batteries will last far longer so you will not have to keep a boat  by a first floor window in order to go shopping for fresh supplies. If you need the batteries to last a long time have the volume level no higher than is necessary. Use alkaline batteries, they have a very long shelf life. If you get some to keep in a drawer now and the next flood is in 2012 they will still work quite well.

Have an AM and FM set just in case things are so bad that one of the transmitters fails. In many places (but by no means all) there is AM and FM available. There are some quite cheap wind-up analogue radios available, some are under £20.

There isn't any local radio on DAB in your area anyway. Emergencies tend to be where the BBC springs into action and based on experience in 2005 the commercial stations continue with more or less normal programming.

[Danow]

If you want to be prepared for emergencies (and all households should) it makes sense to have an AM/FM set that does not use PLL. (PLL means Phase Locked Loop)  They are usually the analogue sets that have a digital tuning display. PLL means they never go off tune but in my experience they drain your batteries faster than an ordinary radio. I don't think there is anything the manufacturers can do about it, this is an inherent part of the design.