I wonder if it is gonna be like this....may be its time to head west across Atlantic or east across channel. How the weather has been treating you guys???
Billa in Greece we haven't had "bad weather" since February.
Flying here with PPL is an 11 month operation non stop.
If you do decide to travel outside UK for aircraft rental check out this thread
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=282045
for more info. and this link
http://hellasga.com/links.html
for places available for rent in Greece (Flying Training links).
If you took a low cost charter flight to a Greek destination you could easily combine it with a "flying vacation" within the EU. Rental costs here are just a tad cheaper then the UK (due to Euro vs Pound) and charter flights to/from UK for package holidays (no extras just hotel & flight) are really cheap.
Egnatia Aviation in Kavala LGKV with a complete Diamond fleet and Cretan Eagle Aviation in Iraklion LGIR with Cessna's and a Piper Arrow operate with UK instructors. There's also Aeroservices with Socata TB9's and Global with Pipers in Athens Megara LGMG as well as Mesogeion Aeroclub with a C172 and Dekelia aeroclub with Cessna's and a Piper Saratoga in Athens Tatoi LGTT.
The largest and most active in Greece is Thessaloniki Aeroclub with a big fleet of Cessna's.
All these are busy flight schools with almost fully booked up schedules but you can always contact them in advance and book some block hours to be executed within a sensible time period so that they enable you to do some nice cross country flights.