Irony alert: Game of Thrones delayed by lack of winter

Fans will have to wait longer than the tradition late March/early April launch date for Game of Thrones season 7 as producers wait for gloomier filming conditions. Photo / File

The filming of the seventh series of Games of Thrones will be delayed as the show's bosses David Beinoff and DB Weiss wait for more gloomy weather conditions to move across Europe.

The show usually starts shooting around July in locations like Northern Ireland, Spain, Croatia and Iceland.

But the lack of suitable weather means it will take a little longer than usual for the seventh season to hit our screens, which traditionally premieres around the world in late March or April.

"We don't have an air date yet, but this year will likely be a bit later," they revealed during a chat on the UFC Unfiltered podcast.

"We're starting (filming) a bit later because, you know, the end of this season, winter is here, and that means sunny weather doesn't serve our purposes anymore, so we pushed back everything down the line to get some grim, grey weather, even in the sunnier places that we shoot."

One of the show's key themes is that "Winter is coming" - a reference to the undead army expected to feature heavily in season seven.

In addition to the later broadcast date, fans will also have fewer episodes to digest as Benioff and Weiss have previously revealed the final two seasons will feature a total of 13 instalments, instead of the usual 10.

According to Variety, HBO would not comment on the proposed return date for the popular series.

April 24, the return date for season 6, was not revealed until January 2016, a few months before the series returned to screens.