That's interesting that O scale in the UK is different from the US. I did not know that. That explains why there are so many 1:43 scale vehicles available.
7mm/ft instead of 1/4" That makes 32m gauge track undersized which has in turn lead to the creation of Scaleseven (S7) which is 7mm/ft on 33mm gauge track and wheels etc to an exact scale profile - our version of P48 https://www.scaleseven.org.uk/ European O is 1/45 just to confuse things even more! Rob