Production on the Next Season of Game of Thrones Delayed

The highly anticipated return of Game of Thrones may take longer than expected, thanks to a delay in the start of production.

Entertainment Weekly reports that executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss revealed in a podcast that filming of season seven will not begin in July, as it normally does. The problem stems, ironically, from a lack of winter weather, Weiss explained:

We’re starting a little bit later because, at the end of this season, winter is here, and that means that sunny weather doesn’t really serve our purposes any more. We kind of pushed everything down the line so we could get some grim, gray weather, even in the sunnier places that we shoot.

Benioff and Weiss recently revealed that the end of the series is in sight, and that they plan to wrap it up with 13 more episodes spread over two more seasons. Despite the show’s ridiculously high season six ratings, they have chosen to let the show come to its natural conclusion, rather than waiting for the money to run out. The showrunners did not let on as to when production will begin.

Game of Thrones has consistently held its season premieres in April, but there is no word from HBO on whether this production delay will affect the season seven premiere air date.