Game of Thrones season 7 release date: HBO reveals premiere will air in summer 2017 and confirms episode count

The series will be shorter than previous with only seven episodes instead of the usual 10

(HBO)

Game of Thrones' fans will be required to to wait until the summer of 2017 to see the first episode of the seventh season.

Bosses of broadcaster HBO confirmed that instead of the traditional April air date, the show is being pushed back to summer 2017 to accommodate shooting schedules.

The cast and crew are set to return to Iceland for filming for the forthcoming series, a location that has not primarily been used since Jon Snow, played by Kit Harington, was 'north of the wall' with the wildlings, as well as Spain and Northern Ireland.

They also confirmed that the series will be shorter at seven episodes, instead of the usual 10 for the first time.

Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming, said in a statement: "Now that winter has arrived on Game of Thrones, executive producers David Benioff and D B 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.

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

The eighth and final season is expected to follow in 2018.

Game of Thrones picked up 23 Emmy nominations last week, the most of any show nominated.