PHP - curl_exec hangs

I am having a strange problem with the below php function. Unfortunately this is one of those special "Production only" case.

How do I CURL www.google.com - it keeps redirecting me to .co.uk

I am using CURL to check for the existence of a URL (HEAD request) but when I test it with www.google.com , it redirects me to www.google.co.uk - probably because my server is UK-based.

PHP-CURL curl_multi_exec is it really multithreaded internally?

My question is very simple as stated in title. However I rephrase it again.