No worries, there's 1 every month, next one is North of Birmingham on Jan 26th at the Legendary John & Sonia Young's House. It's in the Ride To Eat's under the IBAUK link, titled Shame to Break Tradition.
As for gear, all I would say is Gore Tex Pro 3 Membrane, usually found on Klim and Rukka gear, but not cheap, but worth it every rainy day!