Britain’s economy grew much stronger than expected in February, prior to the start of the Middle East war, official data showed ahead of a likely hit from the US-Iran conflict, AFP reports.

UK gross domestic product growth climbed to 0.5 per cent in February compared with expansion of 0.1pc in January, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

Analysts’ consensus forecast had been for GDP growth of 0.1pc in February, while Britain’s output ahead is expected to suffer from soaring energy prices caused by the war.