Rumours have been abounding about Adele's long-awaited third album being released in the first half of 2015 - but that timeframe is now not looking great, according to industry reports.

In fact, there's a chance that the follow-up to 2011's '21', initially rumored to be called '25', might not even be released until 2016.

Apparently, a course 'close to' the singer's team told Music Business Worldwide that “The album will be released when it’s ready – [we] hope that will be at some stage in 2015. That’s all I can tell you right now".

Another source reportedly said "logically, there is now almost no chance” of it being ready in the first part of this year.

The 26-year-old Adele has been largely quiet since the promo for her record-breaking second album wound down, apart from recording the Bond theme song for 'Skyfall', which netted her both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for 'Best Original Song'. In December, she turned down the offer to appear on Band Aid 30's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', with Bob Geldof revealing that "She’s not answering the phone… she’s not writing. She’s not recording. She doesn’t want to be bothered by anyone. She won’t pick up the phone to her manager. She’s bringing up a family, you know."