Emma,
Just on the cost of living... I'm in Dubai now and have lived in the UK for about 5 years.
The difference is not big at all. It may seem like you'll get a lot of money for working here and you do, but it goes out at a similar rate. The going price for a small packaging of blueberries is around 4 pounds, just to give a (weird?) example.
Some things are cheaper, but all in all, in year 1 I am struggling to set money aside for saving etc.
Not meaning to hijack the topic, just trying to make it more complete :-)