This is North London yesterday (stole the pic from a buddy who lives there). Not much rain or fog then. Best time to visit weather wise is Aug or Sept (or so I've been told).
Places get a bad rap just because most people learn about those places from their TV's. Example Seattle: it rains there all the time, except when I visited I got sunburned.
As to the twisty roads best to read about the divison of England by the Romans and the following divisions over the next 1500 years.
