In the UK, too, almost everyone has an electric kettle. The last one I had there drew 3kW (although strangely I couldn't find such a kettle for sale here in China, which also runs on 220-240V).

Kettles have frequently been cited as the source of surges in power usage during the commercial breaks of popular TV shows. For example: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5059904.stm