> We don't really have large tech companies like in the US.
No, but you do have the governemnt, HFT and banking industry which pays contractors well, plus local branches of many top US companies which is still a leg up on the labor market comapred to most EU memebers, meanign salaries at the top end are much higher than most of the EU.
Look for jobs in countries without top banking and no branhces of top US companies and see what salaries are like. UK will seem like a paradise.