Empire is an American /Canadian variety that will have been harvested at a failry immature state for storage (iodine tests are used to evaluate the amount of starch that tells the grower which fruit are suitable for harvesting for what purpose - selling for eating or storage for distribution)
Look our for Spartan if you have to have an imported variety - virtually the same apple, last harvesting around January. McIntosh is another US variety that may be about.
Red apples have higher anti-oxidant properties, so will be a bit better for you than green ones.
At the moment it is a little early to get a fresh British apple. Any marked from the UK will be from store. Apples have excellent storage capabilities, but a few like Early Strawberry are harvested from July onwards.
Have a look at the info on Apple Day - October 21st - at the CommonGround site:
http://www.commonground.org.uk as there may be an event near you that you could go to and have some fun with apples later when the main crop is under way.
And as above - go to your local farmers' market if you want proper fresh food. Have a look at
http://www.bigbarn.co.uk - register your details and there is a really useful locator map of the UK with markets, home delivery schemes, farm shops, PYOs, restaurants using local produce etc etc.