Between July and September, the economy expanded by 0.7%, accelerating from the three months previously, official figures, external show.
The robust growth suggests a far more resilient economy than expected over the summer, despite the impact of higher energy prices from the Iran war.
Strong growth in the services sector – the largest part of the economy, which includes non-physical goods such as consultancy services and computer programming as well as hotels and restaurants – helped boost the numbers.
Within services, computer programming registered its fastest growth for the past three years, helped by AI linked spending.
The boost from computer programming and consultancy services has been the biggest driver of growth so far this year.
Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the Office for National Statistics, said it was "possible growth could have been even stronger" if there hadn't been a war in the Middle East.
But he says households may still not feel better off, and that prices might soon start to rise more quickly than wages.
However, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the figures were "welcome news".
He said: "Despite a year where events around the world have pushed up costs here at home, our economy is growing, bringing hope for the future.
The latest figures put the UK on course to be the second fastest growing economy across the major G7 countries which also includes Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy and France.
However, Jake Finney, senior economist at consultancy PwC, cautioned that growth was likely to slow over the coming months "unless energy markets stabilise".
A sharp rise in energy bills is forecast for January, which is likely to hit consumer spending and confidence, he said.
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Richard Benc, founder of mechanical watch company Studio Underdog, says sales are better than he expected.
"We've seen more resilience than we had forecast for and expected. We are still projecting growth this year," he says.
The business exports about 80% of its watches. "We've seen a surprising amount of resilience, particularly from our US customers," he adds, although some UK customers are now taking longer to buy watches.
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Fox Style News Syndicate. Sourced from broadcast reporting: Read Full Source Coverage.