Went to Borders two weeks ago, and saw quite a few cookbooks authored by British chefs and TV hosts. Even Michelin has been passing out stars north of the Channel. Also, the BBC reports that, possibly thanks to global warming, vineyards have returned to Britain.
For what it's worth, much of eastern England, including London, gets less than 25 inches (630 mm) of rain each year. In most of the US farmbelt east of irrigation country (100 W longitude), a year with so little rain would mean drought and disaster.