The best time to prune a cherry tree is after flowering. If there are any dead or crossing branches you can take them off now, but do not hard prune while we are still getting very low temperatures.

Thanks Sheila , I knew that cherries were a bit different .

Good advice to prune after flowering but I would suggest that you do not prune at all whilst the tree is dormant. They can suffer badly if you prune earlier as there is a possibility of letting bacterial canker in.

My Mum used to prune with a long handled six foot pruner when the fruit was ripe, combining gathering cherries she coŭldn't reach with pruning at the same time. The trees always cropped well so maybe pruning time isn't too critical. The only objection came from the blackbird who believed the trees were his personal private ones that we had no right to approach...