One of two things... if the upstairs light also has an on-off switch in the circuit, you may have installed the wrong dimmer switch. It will (at least here in the U.S.) take one marked "two-way" which will allow dimming only from that switch and on-off from the upper switch.
Alternately, you may have installed an inexpensive dimmer switch. With it on for a few minutes, place your hand over the switch plate and see if it's overly warm. You may also hear humming comming from the switch (don't know the name of the tune though). These are indicators the switch isn't a more substantial switch. Finally, are any of the bulbs in the light fixtures your trying to dim other than incandescent. You really can't dim most fluorescent bulbs and most halogens require special switch's.
Here in the U.S. our electricity supply is 110-115 volts whereas, as I gather, the U.K. standard is 240v, but the physics should be the same.
Best of luck!