The news that has outraged Game of Thrones fans

Game of Thrones season seven is being delayed - and it will only be seven episodes long.

The next season of Game of Thrones will be shorter - and it will be coming later than usual.

Unsurprisingly, fans of the massively popular HBO juggernaut are not happy.

As was heavily rumoured, the next season of Thrones has been delayed by weather changes, meaning the show won't screen until later in 2017.

"Now that winter has arrived on Game of Thrones, executive producers David Benioff and DB Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing," HBO programming president Casey Bloystold Variety.

"Instead of the show's traditional spring debut, we're moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule."

The show normally begins airing in April, but that will mean a delay of several months to screen in the middle of the year.

As well, the season will be shorter at just seven episodes instead of 10.

After the record-breaking viewer numbers for the recent season six finale, fans quickly voiced disappointment at the news.

ONLY 7 EPISODES OF #GameofThrones NEXT SEASON WHY ARE U DOING THIS TO US THATS NOT ENOUGH. YOURE DOING IT WRONG *ADD MORE EPISODES. LIKE 20

— Melissa Batesting (@iamsmalls) July 18, 2016