Usually I'd leave this to the more knowledgable chaps on this forum but as its late and you may want answers now or possibly early tomorrow morning my thoughts are as follows:
Air con: There is a valve called a txv which injects more fluid into the expansion unit, this usually happens when refrigerant is low but i wouldn't worry too much as you'll probably not need airco till summer (which unfortunately is pretty far off)... one thing i would check is when you turn on the AC make sure the fan behind the front grill is working
Steering: First things first check the fluid is ok and ensure its by the max line, if not top it up and see if the noise goes away. If it doesnt and as its a metallic sound i would assume the power steering pump is struggling or possibly failing
Engine noise: Could be numerous reasons for a noisy engine, cheapest option would be putting some fuel treatment in such as comma's diesel magic or millers, add this when you fill up, can make a world of difference on a noisy/tappety engine
Dead battery: There are a plethora of possible causes of a dead battery, things I'd check first would be using a multi meter to obtain the current voltage of the battery with the ignition off, it should read 12 volt as a minimum, should be appx 12.4 volts, then start the car, if it increases to 13+ volts atleast your altenator is working, if it is working you may have a drain on the system or worse a short somewhere in the wiring system, check for interior lights staying on, radiotor fan, fuel burning heater fan (if you have one of course). Make sure no smell of melted plastic is within the cabin or the engine bay if this is the case disconnect the battery from the car.
All the above is just a couple of things that spring to mind if i had these problems on mine, by mid day you'll have plenty of members adding to a list of possible fixes and do's and dont's...
Good luck
Rich
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