In recent times, I have not been on 8m much, even though I have a UK T&I permit to TX on the 8m band.
The main reason is I know what the band can do with Es. It is possible to span the European continent with just a few milliwatts of FT8 on 8m.
The 8m band, being between 10m and 6m, comes into its own when the F2 MUF just exceeds 47MHz.
With the sunspot count being good recently, it has exceeded 50MHz, especially on N-S paths. Activity on 6m is much higher, so getting spots is easier than on 8m currently.
As the F2 MUF goes down, I expect 8m will be more useful showing how the F2 MUF can reach 8m, but not 6m. I shall probably try again on 8m this autumn It would be great if more PTTs allowed amateur access.
I hope the FCC, OFCOM and the RSGB are listening!