Overhead joins are indeed common in the UK. They are less common in other countries because many other countries' aviation communities (France is a classic example) are more practical in mixing aviating types...e.g. gliding, parachuting, etc, at the same airfield. An overhead join at a drop zone is not considered polite, or indeed safe.
I personally like the US 45 degree join to downwind, but of course if joining from the 'dead' side, the 45 degree join is generally preceeded by routing overhead for traffic observation; a descent somewhere and then joining the downwing leg from wide on the live side (arguably outside the zone).
It can be a bit long-winded, but I guess each community develops its own practices.
DT