At the risk of contributing to the thread drift I'm interested why you would only consider the US as an alternative to doing your training in the UK?
I was reading this thread just as an ex-UK student walked past the computer, which prompted me to make a comment. She is completing her CPL & multi ratings here and a brief discussion has revealed the cost is approximately half that of the UK (Intitial multi rating is not much more than 1000 euros). Looking at the UK prices for aircraft hire etc it would seem similar differences exist for someone wanting to do their PPL....
New Zealand is also quite a varied country in terms of its landscape - we have spectacular mountains as well as some quite reasonable expanses of flat land. Our weather is probably a bit less flight-inhibiting than what I've seen described for the UK but not so different that you'd wonder where you were if you were to come here! We have quite a few country strips along with some reasonably busy international airports (admittedly nowhere near as busy as the UK) so there is a good range of flying available to students and seasoned Pilots alike. Also the people are great :-)
As far as I know, from the number of UK-based people I've met through aviation, there is no problem with regard to transfer of licence but obviously one should check all that out beforehand!
Perhaps the US-based schools advertise very extensively in the UK than do other countries? Obviously the US is much closer but if you're looking for an alternative that could perhaps be a little more like home, and at a reasonable cost, NZ may be worth a look.