Despite a “mammoth effort” to complete the Tynecastle project, club owner Ann Budge has confirmed that the targeted September open date will not be met.

The Edinburgh club will play at least three games at the Murrayfield national rugby stadium as a result.

In a statement Ms Budge attributed the delay to adverse weather conditions and the late delivery of seating from the Far East.

The chairwoman said: “Unfortunately there are some things we cannot control and as such, despite the mammoth effort that has gone into the construction project up until now, we are not going to make our targeted ‘open for business’ date of 9th September 2017.

“The wettest June/July in years, coupled with the late delivery of seating from the Far East, due to shipping issues, means we will have to invoke our contingency plan and play our first few home fixtures at BT Murrayfield.

“While this is disappointing, the cooperation of the management and staff at the SRU means we can accommodate all, indeed even more, of our supporters in fine style at the national rugby stadium.”

Ms Budge added: “As those of you who have visited the stadium over the last few weeks will have seen, work is continuing at quite a pace on the new stand. The bulk of the structure is now in place and the roof is scheduled to be fitted by the end of next week. The curtain walling is already looking fantastic and is currently on target to be completed by the middle of August. The internal walls are being constructed and the fit-out has started and is running ahead of schedule in many areas, although there is a large amount of work involved here. Pitch-side too, the demolition work and ground works were completed on schedule and our steel work is well underway.

“In short, the construction teams have been working tirelessly to deliver our superb new stand.”

In June the club announced that the redevelopment remained on course to be opened in September but had suffered “manageable” budget overruns due to its size and complexity.

The project includes seats for 7,500 fans, new media facilities, changing rooms, boardrooms, offices, function rooms, rooftop restaurant and spectator concourse facilities.