went out this morning to head to collage but when i tried to start the polo it took me two attempts to get it to fire, normaly fires right away. (once it fired it was fine) I'm thinking its down to the cold mornings now but i want to get another oppinion also don't know of its connected I've noticed that the petrol gauge drops and come back up really fast when i accelerate, never done this before like. anyone any ideas ?

It could be the coolant temp sensor, if you have VCDS/Vagcom you can check the output going to the ECU I don't see the fuel gauge as being connected in any way

Make sure that the HT leads are clean, dry and in good condition and that the distributor cap (inside and out) is free from moisture, also the rotor arm.

A little wax polish (rather that WD40) applied to the hard plastic HT insulation helps to disperse moisture (condensation)

Regards