Infragravity waves are low-frequency surface waves that can impact a variety of nearshore and oceanic processes. Recent measurements in the North Sea showed that significant bursts of infragravity energy occurred during storm events. Using a spectral wave model, we show that a substantial part of this energy was radiated from distant shorelines where it was generated by the incident sea-swell waves. These radiated infragravity waves can cross the sea basin and reach distant shorelines where they add to locally generated infragravity waves that are trapped by refraction. During storms, the shoreward directed component of the infragravity waves can reach up to O(0.5) m in height along the coastline, suggesting that they can potentially impact the coastal environment of the North Sea.