Steve,
The Quadrangle rule in the UK was compulsory for IFR and recommended but not compulsory for VFR (and as far as I can see almost universally ignored for VFR).
The UK is transitioning to ICAO standard semi circular rule for this. I'm not sure if this happened in September or happening in December, but either way it will be in play before your trip in spring, so you must operate according to the semi-circular rule that you are familair with and which operates in the rest of Europe.
dp