Hello
I couldn't find any specific information indicating that the Windows 8.1 activation servers are down at the moment.
You can try phone activation. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the specific phone activation number for England. However, you can follow these steps to activate by phone:
Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
Type slui 4 and press Enter.
Select your country or region (in this case, England) and follow the on-screen instructions to get the phone number for activation.