The power steering light had come on about a month ago in my Fabia tdi '01. There was no problem until yesterday when all of a sudden the power had given out and the car turned into a beast! More so than any other non-power steering car/van I have come across...

Anyways because of the time lag with the light coming on assumed it must be a level problem. So wipped the battery out and topped up the reservoir - which was a little low but not drastically so. Put the battery back on - couple of sparks, the radio turned on, spooky, and then when I pulled off the steering was fine initially, then stiffening up again, not as bad as it was before.

But all the warning lights started flashing - well ABS, the warning triangle one, airbag, not to mention the original powersteering indicator and the car was beeping away! What have I done? How can I fix it?

Battery failing.

Surely can't be!? Well I hope not

The battery is less than a year old.....

Yeah, IME a Jean-Michelle Jarre type light show usually indicates something up with the battery, as does heavy steering. If the battery's a decent make, then it should last over a year, but it's worth checking the connections, as a dodgy connection on the negative terminal of mine led to all sorts of fun an games. To be sure, loosen the little nut all the way, push the connector onto the terminal as hard as you can, and then tighten it up again with a spanner, not just a pair of pliers.

If that doesn't help, and you have access to a multimeter, check the voltage across the battery with the ignition off, and the charging voltage with the engine running (should be 12-and-a-bit V and 14-and-a-bit V respectively IIRC). The former will indicate a fault with the battery, and the latter with the alternator and/or wiring. ISTR a known wiring issue for the alternator, which is probably worth doing a search for...

HTH