For any new UK users to Lemmy, consider making an account over at Feddit.uk. It’s an growing instance with a specific community focus on all things UK!
I’m not a admin of that instance, but made my own account after Lemmy.ml became too slow to use and the difference is night and day, at the time of writing.
I found a PSA post from Lemmy devs earlier on that I brought to Tom’s attention, it will hopefully address this issue.