i think i found a solution to my problem but not a fix, i wanted uk english and i got it by deleting opera and removing its related folders and files, then restarted pc used a vpn to get a uk location , downloaded opera .
now uk english is the default setting, it's ok with me, but if i want to add a second location a change uk to a different location the same old problem persists , i cant save that setting if i refresh or close/reopen opera it goes back to the the default single location.