UK economy showed surprise 0.5% growth before Iran war

ONS figure for February suggests economy was gaining momentum before conflict stoked inflation with soaring energy prices

The UK economy unexpectedly expanded by 0.5% in February, before the war in the Middle East dashed hopes of an uptick in growth this year, official figures show.

The unusually large increase reported by the Office for National Statistics, suggests the economy had gained momentum before the conflict began. Economists had forecast just a 0.1% expansion.