Incidentally, I'm moving to England after living in Germany for 3 years and Sweden for the prior 3 years.

I'm quite sad to hear that England will be a step backward I found drivers in Stockholm and Frankfurt to be outstanding with respect to cyclists. However, I've been in Copenhagen for a month or so, and it's even better here, so I'm sad to hear that it's not as pleasant as any of these places in England.

Also, a quick word of warning, I would caution against extending the London metro area to "all of England."