Anecdotally, contactless is supported in a majority of places in Europe – even though Apple Pay has yet to roll out to many European banks. As a result, I use Apple Pay at most places in Switzerland and Poland, yet it's always the merchant's first time seeing Apple Pay used. In fact, most of them weren't aware it's a thing since their credit card / bank doesn't offer it.
Most places that I've seen have installed NFC readers at the same time they upgraded to chip readers.
That said, I've yet to see anyone actually use contactless in the wild.
I did, once. Because Discover was offering 10% cashback when they launched Apple Pay support, so I loaded up my card on my buddy's iPhone and went to Best Buy to buy a Surface Book. I've had zero other incentive to use contactless otherwise.
Contactless is a perfectly mundane and unremarkable thing in the uk. Just about everywhere you go accepts All of Visa, MasterCard or Apple Pay, including the underground. There is currently no other way to pay for London busses other than Oyster or contactless.