It's foolish to take any notice of BBC weather as it's usually the complete opposite of what they forecast. Usually they put up icons of rain, sun and cloud to cover themselves for every eventuality, although they are probably not too bad at forecasting what the next couple of hours are going to do. As for wet weather gear, I don't generally ride in enough of it to make a useful comment - but have been caught out in some pretty hefty downpours. My Daytona boots are 100% waterproof, I have several textile jackets (a girl can never have too many) including IXS and Furygan and they have all kept me dry. But talking about persistent pouring rain for hours on end I suspect there aren't many that would stay bone dry - however friends who do ride in all weathers tend to rate Halvarssons.