In the UK, unless you're from a religion where a funeral has to take place fast, there still wouldn't be any rush. It takes quite a long time to arrange a funeral in the UK, usually because you have to wait for a slot to be available at the crematorium/cemetery. My aunt died on the 1st February 2004 and her funeral was on 16th February. My grandfather died on December 17th and the funeral was on January 7th. There is usually a particularly long wait in the winter because more people, especially the elderly, die in that season. In addition, if the person lived/died and is being buried/cremated in an area of the country which has a lot of old people, there will be more deaths so the wait will be longer.
"To rush home" meant, to me, rush back to the house from the office or similar, rather than "rush back to my country". There are, as Tdol said, some cultures or religions where getting back to view or sit with the body as quickly as possible is of paramount importance.