UK inflation rose from 2% to 3.2% in August, a report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows.

This is the highest level of inflation recorded since March 2012 and the quickest monthly rise since 1997.

The biggest drivers of this inflation were transport, restaurants and hotels, and housing and household services.

In its data release, the ONS says that this level of inflation is “temporary”, echoing that said by the BoE in early August and US politicians regarding the state of America’s economy over the last few months.

Yesterday it was reported that inflation in the US dropped from 5.4% in July, a 13-year record high, to 5.3% in August.

Back in the UK, inflation topping the BoE’s 2% target means that governor Andrew Bailey will have to outline planned corrective steps in a letter to the government.

Hargreaves Lansdown personal finance analyst Sarah Coles explains: “Some of this is temporary, because 0.4 percentage points of the rise is an artificial blip caused by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

“A year ago it pushed inflation lower, and naturally a year down the track it has pushed it higher. This only lasted a month, so will feed out of the figures quickly. Prices were also depressed a year earlier by the reduced VAT rate for the hospitality sector.

But other changes look set to stick around. Petrol prices fuelled much of the rise. This time last year they had risen slightly from rock bottom to 113.1 pence per litre, but by this August they had shot up to 134.6 pence per litre, their highest in eight years.”