I have found similar issues regarding this Read timed out error on this tracker, but none that were resolved for any reason other than outdated mine craft version.

I am live in the UK, I can connect to servers that are based in the UK just fine.

When I try to connect to a server that is based in the US I get this error. It also happenes with some EU based servers.

I have called my ISP to see if it is a networking issue, but they couldn't offer me any help.

Recently, I have been accpeted to play on a whitelisted survival server that is based in the US. When I try to connect, I see the screens:
-Logging in
-Downloading Terrain (pause for roughly 30 seconds here)
-Internal Exception java.net.SocketTimeoutException. Read timed out.

and then I am returned back to the main screen. Meanwhile players who are successfully connected to the server have told me that they "see me" logging in, and then log off, presumably once I time out.

To add to the frustration, the server has many players who connect from the UK and do not have any of these problems.