Bookworm where are you?
Recovering from the Xmas goose and associated excesses in ED-land. Is there a smiley for that?
I'm touched you missed me but can't add much to what has been said.
To Troposurfer's point, there is an ICAO rule that forbids VFR arrivals/departures in a control zone when the visibility is less than 5 km and the cloud ceiling is less than 1500 ft
unless a clearance is obtained from ATC. But this rule is not used by the UK, since every CTR requires a clearance anyway. There is an equivalent for non-radio aircraft, Rule 16(2) which sets minima (at the destination) for departure.
The ICAO rule is somewhat ambiguous:
"shall not take off or land within a control zone, or enter the aerodrome traffic zone or traffic pattern, unless..."
My interpretation is that this applies only within control zones, and that the alternatives are activities within the CTR that are not permitted.