Bit of a blinkered view Girdler,
I have done quite a bit of flying in the US, as well as the UK and have to say that you can get as much weather over there as you can handle! If you want good weather you can find it just as you can find really crap weather to go and use your IR in.
I did my PPL in California and you can fly in CAVOK, to ski resorts (yes I kid you not within 40mins flying time), the marine layer (which can catch out the unwary), not to mention your usual overcast skies just as in the UK.
You may want to look up Long Beach (KLGB), very crowded Class B airspace and everything there from GA, to commercial and the military flying the C17.
I did an hours checkout at two clubs on my return and was signed off straight away at both.
In LGB rates are
Aircraft (C152/172) = $45/$70 Hr
Accomdation = $38/Night.
Food = Roughly $20 for good 3 course meal (If you can eat 3 courses yank sized!!!!)
Beer = Domestic beer for about $3 a pint, we drank Guiness thought at a whopping $5.50 pint!!!
BTW mate who I learnt with has just landed a job flying A320s in the UK so training cant be that bad
Fly where you want to at the end of the day, I have done both and enjoy both.
Julian.