geotechguy1, If a significant part of your thinking is being close to Europe then forget the UK. We vacation in Italy or Greece most years and the jet lag is a small price to pay for higher wages here. That said, I think you should apply for positions in both the UK, EU and USA. You'll quickly see which employers truly value your skillset which (assuming it's engineering related) has a global marketplace. I mention the EU because an acquaintance of mine just got a job in Switzerland (late 30's, base 120kEuro p.a., relocation, and a stupid amount of leave.)
After positing above I did a little reading to catch up on how engineers in the UK feel about their profession. It's not improved since I left in the 90s and if anything it's worse. Engineers are also still whingeing on about technicians being called engineers. Who is responsible for that? The Institutions! They have done nothing in the quarter century I've been away. The reason is there is a faustian pact between the large employers and the Institutions (they are essentially the same people.) The Institutions put on a good show, but don't act in the interests of their members. The 'marketplace' for engineers is stymied by backroom discussions on pay bands, and lax immigration laws that allow employers to depress wages using work visas. (In truth, there is some of that here in the USA but it's not at a level that has flooded the market with cheap postgraduates.)
One interesting fact is to see how well paid the most senior managers are in the UK, the delta with US equivalents is much lower. Every engineer should mull on the fact that companies like say Arup, Wood etc. sell the same services internationally to companies at pretty much the same rates. So why are Americans paid multiples? How on earth can they justify an average wage of $60k for a British engineer when a mediocre government manager is paid more and gets a gold plated pension.
Now final thought, if you are under 30 then seriously look at exiting engineering and entering computer science, for example via data analytics, ML, etc. This is the new 'hot' career and will be for most of your remaining workalife. What you decide this next few months will affect you for the rest of your life.
And FYI - two Mercedes, 4000 sq ft house, pool, cinema room, huge fridge, four TVs, and Jaffa Cakes from the British Store.
