En el sureste hace más calor y llueve menos.

In Spanish, compass points and regions usually take the definite article: el norte, el sur, el este, el oeste, el sureste.

So when you say in the southeast, Spanish normally uses en el sureste.

Examples:

• en el norte
• en el sur
• en el este
• en el sureste

Without the article, it would sound incomplete in this sentence.

Because Spanish only makes these two mandatory contractions:

• a + el = al
• de + el = del

But en + el does not contract, so it stays:

• en el sureste

That is completely normal.

Spanish often uses hacer in weather expressions.

So:

• hace calor = it is hot / it’s hot
• hace frío = it is cold
• hace buen tiempo = the weather is good

This is just the standard Spanish pattern. Even though hacer often means to do or to make, in weather expressions it works idiomatically.

Because for weather, Spanish normally uses hacer + noun, especially with calor and frío.

So:

• hace calor = it’s hot
• hace más calor = it’s hotter / it is warmer

Caliente usually describes an object, substance, or surface that is hot:

• El café está caliente.
• La sopa está caliente.

Using caliente for general weather is much less natural than hace calor.

In the fixed weather expression hacer calor, Spanish normally uses calor without an article.

So you say:

• Hace calor
• Hace más calor
• Hace mucho calor

You would use el calor in other kinds of sentences, for example when talking about heat as a thing or concept:

• No soporto el calor.

Because llover is the most natural verb for saying that it rains.

So:

• llueve mucho
• llueve poco
• llueve menos

Hay menos lluvia is understandable, but it sounds more factual, technical, or abstract, like talking about rainfall data. In normal descriptions of climate or weather, llueve menos is the more natural choice.

Because these are impersonal weather expressions.

In English, we say it is hot or it rains, where it does not really refer to anything. Spanish usually does not use a dummy subject like that.

So Spanish simply says:

• Hace calor
• Llueve
• Nieva

No subject pronoun is needed.

Because this sentence is making a general relative comparison without stating the second part explicitly.

• hace más calor = it is hotter / there is more heat
• llueve menos = it rains less

The comparison is understood from context, usually compared with other parts of the country or another region already being discussed.

If you wanted to say the second part explicitly, then you would use que:

• Hace más calor que en el norte.
• Llueve menos que en el oeste.

Yes. Sureste is written as one word.

Other examples:

• noreste
• noroeste
• suroeste

These can be used as nouns or region names depending on context.

Normally, no. Compass points and geographical directions are usually written in lowercase in Spanish:

• el norte
• el sur
• el sureste

You would only capitalize it if it were part of a proper name or at the beginning of a sentence.

Yes. Sureste and sudeste both exist and both mean southeast.

In many contexts, sureste is very common, and that is the form used in your sentence. As a learner, it is best to recognize both, but you can safely use sureste.

Yes. The exact English translation depends on context.

Literally, it means there is more heat, so in natural English it can be:

• it’s hotter
• it’s warmer

If the contrast is strong, hotter may fit better. If the contrast is milder, warmer may sound more natural. Spanish itself does not force that distinction here.

That is the most natural neutral word order in Spanish.

• hace más calor = first weather fact
• y = and
• llueve menos = second weather fact

Spanish often keeps a straightforward order in descriptive sentences like this. You could change the order for emphasis in some contexts, but the version here is the standard one learners should copy.