Scientists: Year abroad or not?

I've been thinking really hard lately about whether or not I should do a year abroad at university (3rd year). I've applied for physics and I have offers from Imperial and Warwick. I would really like to do a year abroad in Swizerland or France or maybe even Italy, and I was wondering if anyone has either done a year abroad or knows someone who has and whether or not they thought it was a positive experience. I was also wondering if it jeopardises the class of your degree or otherwise affects your academic ability by the end of the degree. I have an A* in french GCSE and probably a bit of AS as well, it's hard to tell as I moved to the UK half way through GCSEs and my french was at a slightly higher level than that. Any advice would be appreciated!

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